February 2021

1 John 3:1-3

When I think of what it means to find my identity in Christ I immediately think of this passage. It reminds me that I am not only a part of God's kingdom, but that I am also a beloved member of his family. That God is my Father. God is your Father. We are his children! 

I find this truth to be so important, and I think it is especially relevant to teens and young adults trying to figure out who they are. In college, I had the opportunity to help plan and run a middle school retreat. One of the years I was helping I threw out the idea of having our theme be Identity. I remembered the struggle of being in middle school and how much I just went with the crowd instead of what I actually wanted to do. I was trying to find my place and I'm sure many of you are as well. We ended up using Identity as our theme! At the end of the retreat, we were all given a wristband with the reference to these verses and the words "Child of God" to help us remember where our true identity is. I wore this wristband for a couple years and loved seeing that reminder regularly. 

Unfortunately, I don't have a wristband to give you to help you remember this truth. But there are many ways you can be reminded regularly that you are a child of God. You can memorize these verses to have handy whenever you need the reminder, or you can write them on sticky notes and place them where you will see them regularly. Whatever you do, always remember how loved you are by God. He loved you so much that he sent Jesus to die so that we could be adopted into God's family! That kind of love is hard to wrap our minds around, but guys it is so so special! 

 

Discussion: 

What does it mean to you that you are a child of God? 

How would reminding yourself of this truth help you to combat negative thoughts and emotions of yourself?

What are some ways you can remind yourself of the truth that you are a Child of God and are so loved by God? 

Psalm 139:13-16

Our identity in Christ goes all the way back to when we were in our mother's wombs. Some of you are probably thinking, "eww, gross." But honestly, the fact that God was a part of the whole process of our life and made us a specific way is amazing and beautiful! 

There may be times when you find yourself thinking, "my nose is too big," or "I'm too short." There are all kinds of ways we talk down to ourselves and this is exactly what Satan wants us to do. He wants us to think this way because then we're not glorifying God. God wants us to see ourselves for the masterpiece he created us to be. Ephesians 2:10 confirms this. It says, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Another version of the Bible, the New Living Translation, says "we are God's masterpiece!" Wow, God knit us together in our mother's wombs and made us each into a masterpiece! Even though you may not always feel like it, this is the truth! You are God's masterpiece! 

Notice too that both the passage in Psalm 139 and this verse from Ephesians 2 tell us that God has been planning our lives since before we were born. God prepared and planned each day of our lives. He prepared good works for us to do to bring glory to his name. You are fearfully and wonderfully made just the way God wanted you to be. Don't ever forget that!

 

Discussion: 

-Think about a lie that you regularly tell yourself. It could be about your appearance, your intelligence, your talents, etc. Talk about that lie and give it to God to redeem for you remembering that he created you perfectly. 

-Does it comfort you to know God created you to be just the way you are and that he loves you for who you are? Why or why not? 

 

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

God not only created us in our mother's womb like we talked about last week. He also made us new through Jesus' death on the cross. Once we profess our belief in Jesus' death and resurrection, the Spirit within us helps us become new. 

You may be thinking, why should we be made new if God created us just the way we are? He did create us and we were made fearfully and wonderfully, but after Adam and Eve ate that apple in the Garden of Eden, God's people started sinning. We're all sinners, which is why we need God's help in making us a new creation. A creation focused on pleasing him. When we're made new, God isn't giving us a new nose or different hair. He is working in our hearts to make us more like Jesus. 

This passage tells us that through Christ we can be reconciled to God. A simple definition of reconciled is to be made right with God. We now don't have to be separated from him, we can have Christ living within us! Later in this passage it mentions that we are ambassadors for Christ. We are supposed to share this good news with others so that they too can be made new in Christ! 

 

Discussion: 

-To understand what it means to be made new we must first acknowledge our sin and our need for Jesus' saving grace. Talk about a sin or two that you struggle with. 

-Have you experienced God working in your heart to help you stray from that sin? What are some steps you can take to try to stay away from that sin? 

-Remember that even when we sin again, God is still working within us and his grace will cover it. Still he wants us to be more like Jesus. What are some ways we can be more like Jesus? 

Colossians 3:12-17

So now that we know our identity is in Christ and what he has done for us, what do we do with that information? Do we just keep living life normally? Not quite, God has a certain way he wants his children to live. 

This passage begins by telling us we are God's chosen people, that we are holy and loved! This is more encouragement for us as followers of Jesus. You are holy. You are chosen. You are loved by God! Remember these things when you get down on yourself. This is where your true worth and identity lies. God's love is unconditional! 

It goes on to tell us that as God's chosen people we are to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Lastly, it tells us to put on love, which binds the rest of these together. Just as Christ loves us, we are to love each other. 

The end of this passage reminds us to love God. We love God by worshipping him and thanking him. We love God by sharing his love with others. We love God by bringing him glory in the things we do and the way we do them. This is how God wants us to live, and as his chosen people we should strive to live this way. 

 

Discussion:

-Take some time to look up what each of these words means: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love

-Which of these do you think you have the most room for improvement? 

-Make a plan to work on that this week: check-in with each other to see where you are at on your goal of becoming more like Christ.