Who are you? How do you see yourself? Are you settling for less?
Psalm 8:4 says, “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (ESV).
For the longest time I saw myself as…less. I was an addict, an alcoholic. I have spent time in prison. I was not what you would call a model citizen. I was not someone you’d aspire to be.
But one of the greatest gifts the Lord has given me, besides Himself, is a new identity. I am a child of God; a daughter of the King.
Second Corinthians 6:18 says, “I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” John 1:12 says, “To all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”
Think about that for a moment. A paternal test, used to determine who a child’s father is, requires a person’s DNA. You and I, through our faith in Jesus Christ, have become children of God. We have received His DNA!
Before coming to Christ, we had the DNA of the enemy. Because of sin, we are far from God’s original intent for our lives. God never intended for us to be less, but more. He never intended for us to be lost, but found. He never intended for us to be slaves, but free. He never intended for us to be in lack, but to have abundance. He never intended for us to take on an animal nature, but a holy nature.
From the foundation of the world, God created mankind to be just like Him. Genesis 1:26 says, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
God’s original intent for mankind—how we were before Adam and Eve sinned—was that we would be just like our Daddy God. We had His DNA and all His characteristics! We were His children; we had authority over everything in this world because of His great love for us.
We were not slaves or strangers. We were His children.
Adam and Eve’s sin, however, brought about a great change in our spiritual DNA. When they sold us out, we took on a nature that we were never intended to have—a sin nature. The enemy stole our original intent, and we all became slaves to sin, taking on the very nature of the enemy of God.
We were no longer what God had intended us to be. And that is why Jesus came.
Jesus came to earth and died for our sin; in His sacrifice, He gave us a way to have our original DNA restored. In Christ, our true identities are reestablished so we can be like God in all our ways.
We return to God’s original intent by being born again by the Spirit of God. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, God breathes into us again His precious Holy Spirit. We are then metamorphosed into the creation He intended us to be from the very beginning.
Metamorphosis is the act of being transformed, like a caterpillar into a butterfly. We were not made to be caterpillars, but butterflies! When we are reborn by the Spirit of Christ, we receive the DNA of God, and we go from being slaves to heirs, from bondage to freedom, and from unrighteousness to righteousness. We become just like our Daddy again.
What an honor that I can be like Jesus on this earth. I can move like Him. I can love like Him. I can live like Him. All for His glory!
This is my new identity, my true identity. This is who I am. And in Christ, this is who you are.
Our identities are not found in what we do. They’re not found in our past. They’re not found in who the world says we are. No, our identities are found in what heaven says. And
God says we are His children. His offspring!
Before I came to Jesus, I was the offspring of the enemy. I was everything that is not God; the complete opposite. But on July 20, 1997, at 9:30 in the morning in a jail cell, Jesus Christ came to me and set me free, and through that rebirth, I became like Him. I was restored to God’s original intent.
Through His Spirit, God set me free from every addiction—homosexuality, drugs, prostitution, and alcohol. He also set me free from low self-esteem, hopelessness, and a sense of rejection. Now, because of Him, I am no longer a slave to fear and sin. I am a child of God!
And if you have been born again by the Spirit, you are His child too.
The enemy knows who we really are. That is why he works so hard to keep us from understanding our true identities and the authority that goes with our son ship. He knows we are God’s children and that we have great authority on this earth. And he hates this fact. That’s why He works so hard to distort God’s truth. He wants us to see ourselves as less.
But you and I are not less!
In God’s eyes, we are precious and treasured—that’s why He sent His best—His Son—to save us (Romans 8:32). Only the blood of Jesus could buy us back from the enemy.
That doesn’t sound like we’re worthless, does it?
It’s time to see yourself as God sees you. It’s time to come back to your true DNA through faith in Jesus Christ. You, my friend, are a child of God. And He sees you as more. He sees you as whole and healed. He sees you as His own!
Father, in the name of Jesus, I declare that every person reading this article will return to God’s original intent. I command every wrong intention of the enemy to line up with God’s original intent!
Say this prayer with me, “Father forgive me. I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe He died on the cross and was resurrected from the dead. Please come into my heart. Amen.”
Now declare who you are: I am a new creation. I have the DNA of God. I am free and new because of Him!
Stop settling for less.
