Embracing God's Relentless Pursuit, Unconditional Love, and Your Identity in Christ.

Whether you are new to Christianity or you've been walking with Christ for 10+ years, it is never too late to embrace the love of God. Some Christians go their entire life without fully understanding God's love for them and how it can shape your identity. In today's identity obsessed culture it is paramount to know who you are and how loved you truly are. In this guide we will look at how relentless God has been in our lives and how delighted we should be to call ourselves children of God.

Acknowledging God's Pursuit

We often hear that God is actively pursuing us, but what does that mean? What does it mean for a Holy God to be pursuing an unholy people? God sees past our imperfections and He sees beyond what man sees. A more practical way to answer the question of why God would pursue us the way He does is found in the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. It is in this story that we see a father giving his son all that he wanted at the time and a son not caring about how it makes his father feel. The son leaves, squanders all the money he had, reaches rock bottom and I mean rock bottom, and then comes to his senses and goes back home. The father welcomed his son back home even though the son left willingly, the father saw his son coming and ran to him, he forgave his son and literally ran to get his baby boy. The relentless pursuit of God is the story of redemption.

Now take a second to reflect on ways that you have left God. Reflect on all those times you chose that relationship over the love of God. Or maybe you didn't even know God wanted you (like me), so you ran away from every opportunity to be in a church. You chose to sleep with that person instead of keeping your virginity. You chose to smoke and drink and party, thinking it would be freeing and give you joy. That was my story for sure. I spent so much time running from God because I thought I was too far gone, the truth is God was allowing me to squander all my money so I could reach rock bottom. And when I finally came to my senses, He ran to meet me at the city gate. He never let serious harm come to me in the process, but He let me experience enough to look back on and know that He was there. God will stop at nothing to bring His children back home.

Understanding Unconditional Love

Christianity.com defines unconditional love as altruistic, the kind of love that seeks the greatest good for the beloved even at a cost to the lover. Unconditional love is selfless, going above and beyond to bring comfort, peace and joy to the beloved. Unconditional love is secure in that it will not shake or stumble, that kind of love is immovable and eternal. The love of God is unconditional in that He does not expect something in return that we cannot give apart from Himself. God's love for humanity is seen in the garden of Eden and all throughout scripture. We see this love displayed ultimately on the cross as Christ gave His life for our transgressions so we could live with Him for all eternity. Christ died knowing that a lot of people would not choose Him (i.e. the cost) (see Romans 5:8).

God tells us through the prophet Jeremiah, "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you". God has chosen to love us through our flaws, through our struggles, and through our wickedness. The only thing we need to do is repent, turn away from our sins, and choose to love Him back. The amount of times God has watched us mess up is a whole lot, but guess what? He still loves us. He still waits with compassion for us to come back home. One thing I learned recently is that there is nothing we can do to make God love us any more and there is nothing we can do to make God love us any less. We do not have that much power, which is actually freeing and humbling. When we know God, we know love because God is love, and we love because He first loved us.

Impact on Identity in Christ

When I began to understand what lengths God was willing to go to for me, it shaped the way I saw myself and the way I loved Him. I have been walking with God for 2 years now and as some of you know I have a bit of a dark past. That hasn't stopped God from placing me around people who pour into me and remind me of His love for me. When you stop to think of how God created the entire universe in 7 days but took 9 months to create you and I, it changes the way you look at yourself. The bible says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14), and that before we were formed in our mothers' womb He knew us (Jeremiah 1:5). He knew us before laying the foundations of the earth, and decided when it would be the most advantageous for the Kingdom that we should be born. He took His time creating us is what I'm trying to say. The very fact that you are alive shows you how much the Father loves you, God doesn't waste His time bringing to life someone that He doesn't love deeply or delight in. But we live in a fallen, identity obsessed world, that makes beauty the standard of being lovable. It's time to get out of that mindset and get in to the mind of Christ. The next time you are questioning your worth, just remember that you are worth dying for. That's what Christ did, He died for you because He knew one day you would be with Him for all eternity. Your identity is found in the grace of God.

Living Out Our Identity in the World

Love people, even the hard ones! Forgive those who have hurt you in the past and who are currently hurting you. Learn to walk through this life the way Christ did, with humility, with love, and with compassion for all humanity. Remember that anyone you encounter has been created in the image of God and is as precious to Him as you are. Hold on to the fact that you, as a believer, have been set free from the shackles of sin, and have an opportunity to spend eternity with Christ. While you endure trials, hold close the promises of Christ and that there will be joy in the mourning.

What gifts do you have? What are the things that people say you're really good at? How can you use those gifts to glorify God and bring people closer to Him? These are things to think on, and if you don't know your spiritual giftings here is a link to find out what they are https://gifts.churchgrowth.org/spiritual-gifts-survey/

Once you find out what your giftings are, please start using them to bring light to this dark world; Christ called us to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-16). He also told us go out and make disciples of all nations, but I will take it a step farther and tell you to use the God-given talents you have been blessed with to make heaven crowded!

Overcoming Doubts and Insecurities

Now that you are embracing your identity as a child of God, it is crucial that you know that trials and tests will occur. You are walking into a war zone at all times with all of heaven on your side. One thing that you will notice as you grow closer to Christ and His likeness is the level of opposition you will face. The enemy (the Devil aka loser of the century) will do everything in his power to deter you from the truth of who you are. He will place negative thoughts in your mind and use your own thoughts against you. If you are not reading your Bible everyday you will notice it and so will Satan. He will try to get you distracted so that you don't act on what God has called you to do, so you constantly live outside of your Kingdom potential. So here are some steps to help you remain in Christ:

1. Read your Bible daily. It is your daily bread and the sword of the Spirit. Know the Word of God for yourself so you can fight this spiritual battle with confidence.

2. Pray always, and without hesitation. God wants to hear from you all the time, He never gets bored with His children and delights in the small details of our lives.

3. Keep your mind on Christ, it's easier said than done but it is possible. When your mind and thoughts are locked on Jesus it's pretty hard to get pulled away from Him.

4. Repent! Always keep a repentant heart because when you are constantly repenting, the enemy runs out of things to accuse you of. Run to God as soon as your flesh gets activated and you start feeling a little less Christlike.

5. Keep on the Armor of God! Read Ephesians 6:10-18 for more context. Literally never take it off, because as soon as you do the enemy has a foothold in your life.

6. Surround yourself with Godly people! Get away from anyone who pulls you away from God, and pray about ending those relationships. God knows who He has assigned to your life, and it is your job to ask Him to bring those people to you. He wants us to be around wise counsel, not people who will corrupt our view of the Lord and our character (1 Corinthians 15:33).

7. Worship when you want to worry! Complaining and worrying is how Satan traps us into the never ending spiral of anxiety, depression and sin. Instead of taking advantage of a worry session, turn it into a praise and worship session. When life starts reminding you of how hard it is, think on the faithfulness of God. Think of how God has gotten you through past circumstances and honor Him by sacrificing and surrendering your opportunity to worry and doubt. Exchange complaining for worshipping God and remembering all He has done for you (read 1 Corinthians 10:1-12 and Psalm 105).

8. Show grace and be merciful to others like God has shown grace and mercy to you. It is extremely humbling to know that God did not have to save me from myself but that He chose to. He chooses to wake us up every morning, He chooses to allow us to get home safely every night. God chooses to show us grace and kindness, and so should we. When we do ugly things God is quick to forgive us, so why shouldn't we do the same? (Read James 1:19-27, Psalm 18 and Acts 9)

In Conclusion

If you've gotten through this whole post, congratulations and thank you for sticking around. I will be the first one to tell you that walking with Christ is super hard, but it is the best decision you will ever make. Jesus Himself said that in this world you will have trials and hardships but to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world, and so can you (John 16:33). There is literally nothing you have been through that Jesus hasn't been there to witness, and He still loves you and chooses you. You are worth more than you know, and you have been intentionally created by a loving and merciful God. When life starts to get a little crazy and the warfare starts to ramp up, just remember that there is an entire community of brothers and sisters in Christ that can and will fight in the Spirit for you and with you. You are never alone in this life.

If you are looking for a community please consider checking out The Tree, a virtual community of believers who hold weekly prayer meetings and Bible studies the website is: thehoneyscoop.com

I am also available for prayer anytime, just leave me a comment below and I will reach out to you personally.

You are so loved my friend and I pray this has been helpful. God bless.