Just Call Me Daughter

Written By: Nancy Purtlebaugh

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Galatians 3:26-27

Hello, my name is Nancy and I am a recovering People Pleaser. I wear many other titles as well-wife, mom, aunt, sister, employee, friend, and the list goes on. The one that I hold most dear, that I don’t always live out the best, is Daughter. Yes, I meant to capitalize that. Because that is the Daughter of the Most High King. I have many titles/former titles that I’m not so proud of, I could spend time focusing on all those names. However the one that plagues me more than all of the ugly names I’ve been called or the ones I have called myself is the one I started out with-people pleaser. Being a people pleaser can be noble. It can be fine. It can also be an area that holds me or you in chains. Why you may ask? If I am putting that above who God says I am, or I am pleasing others in a way that doesn’t line up with Scripture, or if it is more important to me than pleasing God it can keep us in shackles. That probably doesn’t happen often, right? If I’m following Jesus this is probably not often a struggle for me. WRONG. Daily I have to check myself in this area. (Or more like hourly!) Let me reiterate-it is okay and often good to please others-as long as I am not putting it above my identity in Christ, or worrying about pleasing others above Him. Isn’t that how a false identity sneaks in though? It looks good, it sounds good, it is good-until it isn’t. Until it’s twisted to become something else. What is it for you?

This week Josh talked about the importance of where we place our identity, or more importantly in WHO we place our identity. Our Identity, when placed in Jesus, gives us Freedom. Freedom leads to Identity and Identity changes our lives. It transforms us. How? Once we spend time with Jesus, we become like Jesus, then we learn to live like Jesus. Josh gave us a very practical way to FIGHT against our false identities that try to plague us, and to follow Jesus-the BEST WAY.

It starts with:

Freedom - from the life we led before we knew Him. We are transformed at the moment we accept Him and are baptized.

Identity - We now identify with Christ. Who you were before? That is no longer your name. You are the Son/Daugher of the MOST HIGH KING! Live that out the best you can each day!

God’s Spirit and His Word - Spend time in His word and time talking with Him in prayer every day. The Spirit is living in you if you have been baptized, He is always a part of you, therefore He is fully available to you. How cool is that??

Heart-focused community - We are part of the body of Christ. Let’s lean on each other, affirm each other, pray for one another, walk alongside each other, and do life together. If you are part of Victory or even another church and you are reading this and you don’t feel that, I urge you to join a small group to have a smaller group of people you can live this out with.

Training - This is a daily fight. When you are training for something you have to do it every day. Depending on what you are training for this could be 30 minutes each day or hours each day. Regardless, the training needs to happen most, if not every day. For the Christ Follower this looks like getting to know Him better in His word. Praying and listening to the Spirit. Meeting together at least weekly with fellow believers.

FIGHT daily to accept your God-given Identity. Do not allow the enemy to trick you into believing the names he is trying to throw your way.

Josh preached from Luke 15 this week. In this passage of scripture I am going to focus on vs 11-20. Take some time to read it this week.I will paraphrase it for you-a son had all he needed from his father, but it wasn’t enough. He wanted more (this doesn’t sound familiar, does it?) So he asked his father for his inheritance, and went off to spend all of it. Not only did he spend all of it, but he lived wildly, scripture says. Then there was a famine and he began to be in need. He still did not go back home at this time, but rather became a servant. After a while, he decided to go home to his father, he had no one else to turn to. He was out of options. He felt shame and guilt for what he had done. He had a speech planned and everything.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” Luke 15:20

This was before the apology. His father was waiting for him. He could have chosen to be angry. In fact, Josh told us that, in his culture, what should have happened was Kezazah - which means "cutting off". They would have taken clay pots and broken them all around him, and should have shunned him. BUT God. God sent His Son as a sacrifice for you and me. He died on the cross for our sins. We deserve Kezazah for our sins, but God wanted us to be in a right relationship for all eternity with Him. There is nothing we can do on our own to save us from our sins without God. That is our identity, friends. The cross gave us an identity that can never be taken away once we accept it. You are no longer who you were before. You are not what this world calls you. You are royalty-because of Jesus. You are the Son/Daughter of the MOST HIGH KING. That is and always will be your most important identity.

Remember this challenge this week: Name one false identity this week and surrender it to God. Replace it with one truth of who Jesus says you are.

I’ll start- “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10

Lord, help me to please you above all others, then I know you will help me be who you want me to be to others. Thank you for loving me and being faithful, even when I am not. Help us all to live out the identity that you gave us. In Jesus name, Amen.