I’ve never met a woman who isn’t struggling with or who hasn’t struggled with her identity. As girls growing up, there are so many influences on our development. And when we grow into women, the pressure only intensifies. I arrived at womanhood struggling to push back the belief that I was totally flawed, a disappointment, and that I was beyond redemption.
As women, our worth is determined in many ways: We are our beauty or lack of it. We are our pant size, our height, our weight. We are the way we dress and the brand of our clothes, our shoes, and our handbags. We are our children’s behavior and our husband’s jobs. We are our marital status, our money, our work status – both in the home and everywhere else. We are our homes, our social media accounts, and our ability to complete Pinterest projects.
Women are told who we can and can’t be, what’s acceptable and what’s not. We are constantly bombarded by messages that we’re not doing it right and we’re certainly not enough.
The world around us is continuously assessing our worth. But the worst critic is the woman looking back at us in the mirror.
It’s toxic. And it’s not the truth.
All those obligations and expectations can leave us feeling insecure, inadequate, and unsuccessful.
But God has the final word on our identity. First, He tells us we are created in His image. In Genesis 1 we find the creation story, where God makes something out of nothing. And He calls it good. At the end of the chapter, He creates man and woman:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Genesis 1:27
We are created in the image of the Almighty.
We are God’s children, chosen and loved.
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
Galatians 4:4-7
We are redeemed by the blood of Christ, making us worthy, clean, and holy.
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Hebrews 10:19-22
We are empowered by the Holy Spirit.
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from who every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3:14-19
And most of all, we are daughters of the Living God, with a glorious inheritance and access to all the riches of our Father.
“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:19
When we turn to Jesus, we become more than women. We become daughters of the Most High King. And that is the greatest title we could ever have.
I want to challenge each of us to write down the verse that most speaks to you in building the foundation of your identity in Christ. Read it every day and let it sink in.
You are a daughter of the King!
I’m a wife, mom of two, and lover of Jesus. I believe through Him we are transformed and receive new life, giving us unique purpose.
