Reclaiming your True Identity

… the Holy Spirit descended on him [Jesus] in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” — Luke 3:22

Before Jesus could embrace His ministry or His calling, He had to see first His true identity as a dearly beloved Son, whom the Father loves completely and unconditionally. His Father was also well pleased with Him even before He did anything in the ministry. God was always with Him, as evidenced by the Holy Spirit coming upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and then remaining with Him. This loving commitment by the Father is enough to ground Jesus for His upcoming ministry, which was going to be very challenging, to say the least, and which will even cost His life. It was the sure foundation of His true identity before His heavenly Father that enabled Him to embrace His ministry and persevere in it until He succeeded.

In the same way, we also need this kind of assurance of our true identity in Christ before our heavenly Father, so that we can embrace our calling to serve Him in whatever ministry He wants for us to do. Only His unconditional love and commitment to us can ground us toward the fulfillment of our life purpose. This is exactly what happens when Jesus says to us, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” (John 15:9) So today, before you think about doing anything for God, think about His loving commitment to you. You are a dearly beloved son or daughter of your heavenly Father, and He is well pleased with you because you are identified with Jesus, with whom He is forever well pleased. Reclaim your true identity in Christ before you even do any kind of ministry. This is the only way you can persevere and succeed in the end. Shalom! (PB)