Self-justification
Self-justification
They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 3:24)
Who Are You?
From childhood we are programmed to seek approval. Kids and youth glance nervously at parents and peers, eager for affirmation. Children whose worth is not affirmed in childhood often suffer emotional and spiritual problems in adulthood. The search for approval is part of a larger quest for identity. Who are you? Why are you here? What is your worth? Countless people work hard all their lives to answer these questions but never find satisfactory answers. The follower of Jesus, however, need not perpetually struggle with these questions. There is an answer.
Whose Are You?
As a child of God, you derive your identity from Christ. You are united to Him by faith (see Rom. 6:1–10, for example). You share Christ’s nature, His status, His history, His destiny, His possessions, and even His name. You are the man God says you are, no matter what the people around you say. Your Father in heaven loves you just as He loves His Son (see John 17:23). Therefore, His affirmation is all the affirmation you’ll ever need. To esteem Him is to esteem yourself (see 1 Cor. 1:30–31).
So don’t let other people define you. Don’t let them send you on a futile quest to prove your worth. It’s not only exhausting; it doesn’t work. Find your worth in Jesus instead. In Him you have nothing left to prove.
Bottom Line
You can’t impress God, and—guess what?—you don’t need to. You already have all the affirmation from Him that you need. Let this truth define you.