Week One, Day Three

God's Word

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1-2

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

1 John 4:16

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

1 John 3:1

Live It

These days you're told in loads of ways that you are something. For example, your friends might tell you that you're stupid, or they might say that you're a great friend, or whatever. People fill you with a bunch of "you are's." These are statements of how they feel about you. They say them and then somehow, after you hear them a lot, you adopt them into your psyche. Their "you are's" become your "I am's." If you have cool friends and their words are positive, then your perception of yourself is good. But if they're mean or negative, then your self-perception can become negative.

Take a minute to try something. Take your pen and a piece of paper and write down all the things that you think about yourself. I'll start you off.

I am unique.

I am talented.

I am ______________

I am ______________

I am ______________

I am ______________

I am ______________

I am ______________

Now why would I have you do that? Why is it important to write down what we think about ourselves? Isn't that kind of New-Agey and self-helpy?

Nope. Here's why. God has a lot to say about you in His Word. He has a lot to say about how much He loves you, why He loves you, what your abilities are, and loads of other stuff. Don't believe me? Here's some of what God's Word says that he thinks about you:

You are forgiven (1 John 1:8-9).

You are filled with God's good things (Psalm 65:4)

You are God's friend (Colossians 1:21-22)

You are loved (John 3:16; 1 John 4:16)

You belong in God's house (Psalm 27:4)

See? If your world is packed with negative messages that tell you you're worthless or insignificant, or if you feel unloved and invisible-God has a different opinion! God's feelings about you are entirely different. You are His valuable creation. He gives you good things. He's crazy about you. He longs for your attention and wants to spend time with you because He loves you.

Here's the great news: God's love for you doesn't end and doesn't change. The list of how God feels about you doesn't change either. He believes in you. He loves you. Knowing how He feels about you can help you live boldly in the face of people that try to fill you with negative messages. His firm belief in you can be your fuel to live more loudly for Him.

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They are questions for you to think about.

Open this, go to the discussion boards and open AskYou Day 2, Week 1.