The Father heart

I was listening to a song by Casting Crowns today entitled Who Am I. It's somewhat ironic because I feel like I ask myself that question on a daily basis. Here I am, just like every other twenty-something year old, wondering about my purpose, about what I am created to do... who am I?

Tonight, as the song played, this line fell on my heart and settled there.
"You told me who I am,
I am yours."

It is so beautifully simple.

I belong to the Most High God. I am His daughter. I am His beloved. I am His created. I am His.
What else really matters?

When I focus on who I am (or rather, who I think I should be), I became entangled in pursuits and achievements and successes, all set by someone else's standard. I become discouraged, because I try so hard to be someone that it is not natural for me to be based on snippets of other people I admire (and fail.)

When I lock eyes with my heavenly Father, He unleashes the fullness of His dad love for me. He tells me I am beautiful. He tells me He is proud of me. He tells me He delights in me. He tells me that I am loved. My identity is breathed by the words of my heavenly dad... and when I accept these truths, I know who I am. I am not a modge-podge of people I admire... I am fearfully and wonderfully made, uniquely and intricately poured into by my Father in a way that no one else can replicate. I am freed to be as He created me to be.

Pastor Daniel Zopoula spoke on father`s day about the important role a father plays in us knowing who we are... and, in his awesome Daniel way, he used the Lion King to drive the message home.

"Anyone who listens to the word, but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at his face, goes away and forgets what He looks like"

James 1:23-24

We need our Father to remind us who we are, because we are so prone to forgetting!

"I already know Him, because I know you."

It is awesome that we, freed to love and dream and serve out of knowing we are loved, live lives that point to our Father. People can encounter the Father heart of God by us living out of the love we have received.
Dad's are such a big deal.

When I was growing up, people always told me I look like my dad. I never realized what a profound compliment that was. My heart's desire to embrace who I am in Christ, that other's may see my Father in me.

It's funny too, as I read through the Bible you often read "So and so, son of [insert fathers name here]" and that is how they are identified... they are introduced as sons, tied to the name of their Father. That is weighty!
Can you imagine the declaration we would be making if we did this with our heavenly father?
"Hi, I'm Jessica, daughter of God. Nice to meet you!"

I think that's what it might take for some of us to really start to embrace our identities as princes and princesses.

Daddy love is tender. If you see dad's with their kids, you see grown men turned to gush. Manly men who will drink imaginary tea with pinky out and wear nail polish and trade in their harley for a minivan because they love that much/

How much moreso God for us?
He told us who we are, in fact, He gave His only son to bring us all under His roof!
WE ARE HIS.