Who defines You? Who or what influences the way you think about yourself? Often times we allow ourselves to be defined by the opinions of others…good or bad, by our successes or failures, or worst of all by that nagging inner voice focusing on our weaknesses in detail. All of these sources for self-evaluation waver in their credibility.  This being so, it is important we have a strong foundation regarding God’s opinion of us—a foundational truth of who we are in the eyes of our creator.

If or when your mind begins to wonder from the truth of “who you are” be reminded of these foundational truths:

You were carefully thought out even before your days on earth even began:
You are not a mistake or just a product of your environment. You were carefully thought out and masterminded before your life even began.

 “Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you. The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.” (Psa. 139:16-17 Message)

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jer. 1:5)

You are God’s masterpiece:
God doesn’t make mistakes! God himself created you wonderfully; you are His masterpiece. You are created for good things, NOT bad. God doesn’t wish bad for you, He has good things planned for you.

“For You (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:13-14 Message)

“For you are God’s masterpiece. He has created you new in Christ Jesus so you can do good things that he planned for you long ago.” (Eph. 2:10)

You are loved by God and He fills you with His love:
God loves you so much that he sacrificed His only Son for you. His love is unconditional, there is nothing you can do to deserve it; your part is to receive it. You will never hear God say, “If you do this I won’t love you anymore.” There is nothing that can make Him stop loving you and there is nothing that can ever separate you from His love. You may have days where you feel unloved or unlovable but His love is ever present and forever extended with open arms of grace.

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His only Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1John 4:10)

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us.” (Rom. 5:5)

“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:35,37-39)

You are forgiven:
Don’t wallow in guilt. God offers you forgiveness for all sin freeing you from any internment of guilt. You are not only forgiven but also redeemed to walk in righteousness. For you no longer are subject to darkness but can walk in Light with eyes wide open to the Truth that frees you.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9 NIV)

“Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Col. 1:12-14 NIV)

You are a child of God:
You belong to God; you are a part of His family. You are His precious child…He is your Father! This truth will never change!

“To all who received Him (as Lord), to those who believed in his name (Jesus Christ), he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12-13 NIV)

“For in Him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.” (Acts 17:28)

You are the sacred temple of God:
God loves you so much that He sees your life as a sacred temple—a place for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—the Spirit of Jesus Christ. With His Holy Spirit you are forever sealed (protected) as HIS.

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” (1Cor. 3:16-17)

“Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” (Eph. 1:13)

You are valuable to God:
You are so valuable to God; He is concerned with every detail of your life. He has numbered every hair on your head. He has even determined the exact time and place you should live. If God cared enough to do all this for you will He not care enough to meet your every need, to hear your silent cries, and to carry your deepest burden…YES, He will! You are valuable…speak His value into your life! He is concerned with the details of your life.

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable then they? (Matt 6:26)

“And even the hairs on your head are numbered. So don’t be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matt. 10:30-31)

“From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times and the exact places where they should live.” (Acts 17:26)

“O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.” (Psa. 139:1-3)

You are chosen by God:
God chose you! He picked you to be on His team—in His family—to receive His benefits. He wants you for eternity. Have you ever just wanted to be one of the chosen elite….well you are! You are God’s chosen elite.

“But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you.” 1(Peter 2:9 Message)

“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love.” (Eph. 1:4 NIV)

“In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” (Eph. 1:11-12 NIV)

God wants you to prosper:
God doesn’t just want you to just get by or struggle in life. He wants you to prosper (to flourish, to thrive, to grow), don’t accept anything less then God’s plan for your life. Continue to work out your salvation (to press on in your faith) for God wants to work in you for His GOOD purpose.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” (Jer. 29:11 NIV)

“—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling (fear of not wanting to miss out!), for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” (Phil. 2:12-13)

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” (3John 2)

Gods eternal promise to you:
God is not finished with you! He is working to develop and perfect you into the mirror image of the glory of God. Whatever stage you’re at in life, whatever circumstances you’re engulfed in, God is still working. Your hope is in believing (confessing) that He is working out His very best in you.

 “I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ developing and perfecting and bringing it in to completion in you.” (Phil 1:16)

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed in the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2Cor. 3:18)

What foundational truth do you build you self worth on? Who or what defines you?

You are welcome to reproduce this article for your blog as long as you include the following blurb:
Peggy Reeves is a speaker, writer and life coach. To find out more about Peggy please visit her website and blog at www.peggyreeves.com and http://embracinglifewithpeggy.blogspot.com