A WORD

First and foremost, God says I am His beloved child: “See what great 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). God is not timid about expressing His boundless love for us; He repeatedly affirms in Scripture that we are born of God, His very own treasured children (John 1:12–13; 2 Corinthians 6:17–18; Galatians 3:26; Romans 8:17; Isaiah 43:1).

God says I am chosen, adopted into His family through Jesus Christ to be His child forever: “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son” (Ephesians 1:4–6, NLT; see also 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 2:13).