Just as every snowflake is unique, every person is unique because God created you in His image. Believe it or not—no one else is just like you. Your physical appearance, your voice and personality traits—your habits, intelligence, personal tastes—all these make you one of a kind. Even your fingerprints distinguish you from every other human being—past, present, or future. You are not the product of some cosmic assembly line; you are unique.
The most important fact of your identity is that God created you in His own image.
Genesis 1:27 CEV So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women.
He made you so you could share in His creation, could love and laugh and know Him person to person. You are special indeed!
Psalms 139:13-14 CEV You are the one who put me together inside my mother's body, and I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me. Everything you do is marvelous! Of this I have no doubt.
God knew you even before you were born. Then, and now, He has plans just for you, plans conceived in love.
I preached a sermon, “God's Masterpiece” in which I said that the believer is God's greatest masterpiece, and as His masterpiece you have been created twice.
Here’s that first creation
Genesis 1:26-27 CEV God said, “Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures.” So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women.
Here's the second.
2 Corinthians 5:17 CEV Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new.
Ephesians 2:8-10 CEV You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. It isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about. God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. This is why he sent Christ to make us what we are.
You "are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. " That’s why you should focus on pleasing God, not people.
The most important fact of your identity is that God created you in His own image.
Genesis 1:27 CEV So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women.
He made you so you could share in His creation, could love and laugh and know Him person to person. You are special indeed!
Psalms 139:13-14 CEV You are the one who put me together inside my mother's body, and I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me. Everything you do is marvelous! Of this I have no doubt.
God knew you even before you were born. Then, and now, He has plans just for you, plans conceived in love.
I preached a sermon, “God's Masterpiece” in which I said that the believer is God's greatest masterpiece, and as His masterpiece you have been created twice.
Here’s that first creation
Genesis 1:26-27 CEV God said, “Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures.” So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women.
Here's the second.
2 Corinthians 5:17 CEV Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new.
Ephesians 2:8-10 CEV You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. It isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about. God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. This is why he sent Christ to make us what we are.
You "are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. " That’s why you should focus on pleasing God, not people.
Focus on Pleasing God, Not People
By Rick Warren
“Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:4b NLT, second edition).
God did not make you to be what somebody else wants you to be. God didn’t make you to be what your parents want you to be, what your girlfriend or boyfriend wants you to be, what your spouse wants you to be or your boss or your friends want you to be.
God made you to be you. If you’re going to become all you can be, you have to refuse to be defined by others.
Hebrews 11:24 says, “By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter” (NIV).
Moses had an identity crisis. He was born a Hebrew slave but raised as Egyptian royalty, the grandson of Pharaoh. When he grew up, he had two choices: He could pretend to be Pharaoh’s grandson for the rest of his life and live a life of luxury and fame and power.
Or he could admit who he really was: a Jew. If he did, his family would kick him out to live with slaves the rest of his life. He would be disgraced and humiliated and live a life of pain and drudgery.
Which would you choose?
Most people today are living lies. They’re trying to be people they’re not. But Moses refused to live a lie because he was a man of integrity. He insisted on being who God made him to be against all kinds of peer pressure.
Here’s my question for you: Who are you letting determine your identity?
Is it your friends and family? Some of you have parents that died years ago, but you’re still trying to live up to their vision for your life. Some of you are hanging on to what some ex-husband or wife said to you, and you’re trying to prove that person wrong. Some of you are trying to keep up with what social media and culture and the competition says you should be.
But the Bible says this: “Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:4b NLT, second edition).
The first resolution you need to make is this: “I resolve that no more will I let other people press me into their mold. I’m going to be what God wants me to be. I’m going to do what God wants me to do, and I’m going to fulfill the plan that God has for my life, not somebody else’s plan for my life.”
Friends, that is real success. Real success in life is being exactly who you were created to be and nothing more.
Lord, I Pray That I Would Stop Trying To Find My Identity In Anything Other Than Being Your Child, A Child Of The King And A Citizen In The Kingdom Of God. Thank You For This Amazing Grace In My Life! Lord, Help Me See The Minute I Start Placing My Identity In Something Else- My Children, My Career, My Marriage, My Gifts And Talents. Help Me In Those Moments To Remember That All Of Those Things—Even Though They Are Good Gifts—Will Never Satisfy Me The Way You Will. Help Me Keep You Before Me In All Things. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
By Rick Warren
“Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:4b NLT, second edition).
God did not make you to be what somebody else wants you to be. God didn’t make you to be what your parents want you to be, what your girlfriend or boyfriend wants you to be, what your spouse wants you to be or your boss or your friends want you to be.
God made you to be you. If you’re going to become all you can be, you have to refuse to be defined by others.
Hebrews 11:24 says, “By faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter” (NIV).
Moses had an identity crisis. He was born a Hebrew slave but raised as Egyptian royalty, the grandson of Pharaoh. When he grew up, he had two choices: He could pretend to be Pharaoh’s grandson for the rest of his life and live a life of luxury and fame and power.
Or he could admit who he really was: a Jew. If he did, his family would kick him out to live with slaves the rest of his life. He would be disgraced and humiliated and live a life of pain and drudgery.
Which would you choose?
Most people today are living lies. They’re trying to be people they’re not. But Moses refused to live a lie because he was a man of integrity. He insisted on being who God made him to be against all kinds of peer pressure.
Here’s my question for you: Who are you letting determine your identity?
Is it your friends and family? Some of you have parents that died years ago, but you’re still trying to live up to their vision for your life. Some of you are hanging on to what some ex-husband or wife said to you, and you’re trying to prove that person wrong. Some of you are trying to keep up with what social media and culture and the competition says you should be.
But the Bible says this: “Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:4b NLT, second edition).
The first resolution you need to make is this: “I resolve that no more will I let other people press me into their mold. I’m going to be what God wants me to be. I’m going to do what God wants me to do, and I’m going to fulfill the plan that God has for my life, not somebody else’s plan for my life.”
Friends, that is real success. Real success in life is being exactly who you were created to be and nothing more.
Lord, I Pray That I Would Stop Trying To Find My Identity In Anything Other Than Being Your Child, A Child Of The King And A Citizen In The Kingdom Of God. Thank You For This Amazing Grace In My Life! Lord, Help Me See The Minute I Start Placing My Identity In Something Else- My Children, My Career, My Marriage, My Gifts And Talents. Help Me In Those Moments To Remember That All Of Those Things—Even Though They Are Good Gifts—Will Never Satisfy Me The Way You Will. Help Me Keep You Before Me In All Things. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
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