This is Who I Am

This devotional was born from a time in my life where I was going through a difficult time. Although I had been a Christian for most of my life and I knew theologically what my identity in Christ was, I found myself questioning whether I really was who Christ said I am. I knew in my head that I was, but in my heart I had trouble believing that God really saw me the way He says He does. Others had no qualms telling me that I was not what God said I was and I even convinced myself that even though God says He loves me and will never leave me, He really didn't truly love me like I needed Him to. I was convinced that His love was simply a biproduct of His character and that the only reason He loved me was because I was His child. He didn't love me for who I was.However, after my pastor, John Valenzuela, challenged the church to read and meditate on some key verses concerning who we are in Christ, my view of myself began to slowly change. I realized that God does not define me by those things I have done or didn't do, He defines me by who I am in Christ. And that person is completely different than the one that others (and myself) say that I am. As a result of the drastic change in my own perception of life, I decided to take those verses that my pastor challenged us to meditate on and discuss in the form of a 40 day devotional, my journey into the discovering who I am in Christ. This is not only my journey, but it can be yours too.