Am I strong? Beautiful? Am I good enough?

Am I strong? Beautiful? Am I good enough? Have you found yourself asking these questions? We live in a world that tears us down. A world that tells us we will never be skinny enough, smart enough, or good enough. If we let the world define us, we will always be let down. Instead, we have to be defined by the Cross.

Easter has come and gone, but the power of what happened on the Cross lives forever. When I write the Cross, I’m referring to the historical moment when Jesus died on the Cross and took on the shame of all our sins. That moment in history will forever leave a mark on you and this world.

Why? Because the Cross forms your identity. The Cross is who you are. It is not just a big theological term, but it also impacts every part of your life. It brings you freedom from your past and hope for your future.

In this world, it is easy to let many things define you. For example, your job, relationships, age, body type, feelings, emotions etc. but these things are always changing. Friends will come and go. You will graduate from college and get a job. And your emotions are constant roller coasters. Everything changes in this world except God. God is our only constant. And that is why we need to stay focused on the Cross.

We need to look to the Cross to form our identity.

The Cross changes you and changes what defines you. You’re no longer defined by your past or the world. You are now defined by Jesus’ death on the Cross.

Here are 10 ways how the Cross defines you:

1. You are free. The Cross brought freedom, so you can live defined by freedom. Stop living in the chains of your past. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” Galatians 5:1.
2. You are redeemed. When you surrender to Jesus and the Cross, you are no longer who you once were. You are redeemed and made new. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” Galatians 3:13.
3. You are strong. You can do all things through Christ who gives your strength. (Philippians 4:13). The Cross gives you power.
4. You are beautiful. No matter how the world defines beauty, as a believer you are a child of God. And that makes you beautiful. The Cross makes you beautiful.
5. You are good enough. The enemy will constantly get you down and tell you that you are not good enough. Jesus warned us that satan was a liar. In fact, Jesus says that satan only came to “steal and kill and destroy”, but Jesus came so that you “may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
6. You belong. As Jesus was dying on the Cross, he said to the man dying on another cross next to him, “truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). The criminal had asked Jesus to remember him when he enters Jesus’ kingdom, and Jesus told him that he would see him in Paradise. The Cross allows us to belong in Paradise with God.
7. You are loved. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8. The Cross makes you loved.
8. You are known. Jesus died for you on that Cross. He went through all the pain, torture, and loneliness because he knew you and wanted you to know God. Because of his death on the Cross, you can now know God personally.
9. You are made perfectly, wonderfully, and fearfully. Just think about it, if God wasn’t completely amazed at his creation of you, do you think he would have killed his only Son? God’s word states that he made you perfectly, wonderfully, and fearfully (Psalm 139:14) and the Cross further proves this belief.
   
10. You are God’s child. The Cross welcomes you into God’s kingdom. Believing in the power of the Cross makes you a child of God. You are his.
    

Friends, YOU have all of the 10 characteristics listed above because of Jesus, not yourself. You can’t earn those traits. You can’t earn your way to freedom by trying to be a good person. You can’t experience being fully known by trying to make more friends.

As I was writing this, song lyrics began playing in my head. I think the message of the song matches perfectly with the message of this post. Read the lyrics from “Who I Am” by Blanca (You can also listen to song in the video below).

I love Blanca and the way she intentionally puts the gospel into her songs. This song is all about the Cross forming our identity. Let’s look back to the lyrics – “cause of what You’ve done”. Blanca is referring to the Cross – what Jesus did for us.

The Cross formed our identity. The Cross makes us free, redeemed, strong, beautiful, good enough, belong, loved, known, perfectly made, and God’s child.

Share with your friends!

Pinterest

0

Facebook

0

Twitter

Stumbleupon

0

Tumblr

0

Linkedin

0

Email