In the inspirational movie Overcomer, a basketball coach named John Harrison loses his team. Coaching basketball has become such a major part of his identity that it really shakes him.

He’s also a part of his church’s visitation team. In one scene, he visits a man at the hospital. The man asks him who he is. He lists being a coach, a husband, and a white, male, American. Only at the end, when pressed, does he say “Christian.”

The sick man asks how important that is to him. “Very important,” John replies. To that the sick man responds: “Then why is it so far down your list?”

When we forget who we truly are as followers of Jesus, we are more easily shaken and frightened, we seek affirmation in the wrong places, we are quickly influenced by the wrong things, we gravitate toward despair more than hope, are continually searching, and take our eyes off of God.

That’s why it’s important to not forget John 1:12: “Yet to all who did receive [Jesus], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…”

As a follower of Jesus, THAT’S who you are. You are a child of God—blessed, loved, chosen, forgiven, adopted, free, saved, powerful, and alive. A true masterpiece! (Just read Ephesians 1-2.)

So if someone asks you who you are—who you really are—what would you say?

As you face a world that can seem shaky and uncertain, remember that you are a child of God.

Because of that unflinching fact, you can live differently, powerfully, and on purpose.

By Matthew Ruttan

–Today’s devotional is related to my most recent sermon: “Who. You. Are.” Click here to watch or listen.

–“6 ways to be loving in a pandemic.” Click here to read practical suggestions to “love your neighbour” in uncertain times.

–“Coronavirus, Fear & Faith.” How do these three things relate to each other? Click here to read.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.