But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: — 1 Peter 2:9

Excluded. Rejected. Discarded. Abandoned. Forgotten. Putting aside. Not chosen. Each of these talks about a different part of feeling like you don’t matter. Satan gives our sinful flesh the tools and chances to say these things to ourselves that make us feel bad about ourselves. But God loved us in Christ, brought us into his family, and gave us a reason to live. Those are two of the most important words in the Bible. We are now a part of God’s people. We are on the winning team of winning teams. We have been shown kindness! Grace has swept over us, and God’s love has made us part of his family. Peter is reminding people who have been mistreated and misjudged that they can choose to see themselves as “nobodies” or by their new name. We’re lucky that Peter’s words also speak to our hearts. You are God’s child, my dear friend in Christ. You are like Moses, Esther, Paul, and Mary Magdalene in that you are part of his eternal and winning people. Mercy has taken away the power of sin and failure and given you the power of grace through the Holy Spirit who lives in you. So don’t live today as you once “was”; live today as you are in Jesus!

 

Thought

Excluded. Rejected. Discarded. Abandoned. Forgotten. Putting aside. Not chosen. Each of these talks about a different part of feeling like you don’t matter. Satan gives our sinful flesh the tools and chances to say these things to ourselves that make us feel bad about ourselves. But God loved us in Christ, brought us into his family, and gave us a reason to live. Those are two of the most important words in the Bible. We are now a part of God’s people. We are on the winning team of winning teams. We have been shown kindness! Grace has swept over us, and God’s love has made us part of his family. Peter is reminding people who have been mistreated and misjudged that they can choose to see themselves as “nobodies” or by their new name. We’re lucky that Peter’s words also speak to our hearts. You are God’s child, my dear friend in Christ. You are like Moses, Esther, Paul, and Mary Magdalene in that you are part of his eternal and winning people. Mercy has taken away the power of sin and failure and given you the power of grace through the Holy Spirit who lives in you. So don’t live today as you once “was”; live today as you are in Jesus!

 

Prayer

Thank you for creating me anew as your child, a member of your people, and a deliberately placed purpose in the world around me, O Father of Mercy and God of all grace. Please make it possible for me to hear you speaking about me, not Satan. Please define my identity for me using your words rather than my own self-deprecating ones. I appreciate that I am free to be who I am and not be constrained by who I once was.