Embracing Your True Self: Living in Your Christ-Centered Identity With Jennifer SlatterySample

You are God's child.

Have you ever watched an uncared for child skin their knee or get lost in a busy shopping area? How might such a situation differ for a child secure in her parents’ love? Both scenarios impact one’s sense of safety and how they view themselves. When raised by emotionally unavailable caregivers, children can begin to see people as unreliable and learn it’s best to suppress, rather than express, their needs.

Often, we unknowingly transfer this deep-rooted fear of abandonment onto our Heavenly Father, fearing, should we cry out, “Aba, Father!” He wouldn’t respond.

It can take years to unlearn the hurtful lessons from our pasts and grasp and embrace our identity as God’s cherished children, welcomed close by our ever-present Heavenly Father. But that’s precisely who He says we are.

Regardless of how we feel, this is truth: God the Father adopted you as His own. He didn’t just declare you His child; He made this official through the death and resurrection of His Son.

Journal prompts:

How might children with loving fathers react when they’re afraid or hurting? How might loving fathers respond to them? What type of security might children with healthy, loving and attentive fathers possess? What feels most difficult about seeing yourself as God’s beloved child? End your journal/prayer time asking Him to help you heal and grow in this area.