This month, I am living in Romania. During the weekdays I live in a town called Draganesti Olt with my entire squad (42 people), and on the weekends, my team goes to a village called Stoenesti. We are walking the streets, praying for villages and working with an amazing woman named Andreea running a kids club.
Today, while we were walking down the street, we ended up talking to a gypsy. He was driving a wagon pulled by a horse. (Yes, that is a common form of transportation in Romania.) I asked him where he was headed and he pulled over. It was hard to communicate, but Andreea was able to interpret for us. As he was leaving he turned around, asked if I would come with him, and offered to pay to take me home to become his wife. Andreea quickly told him no and to go away.
I shrugged it off and didn’t think much of it. After a few minutes one of my teammates asked me if I was okay. I didn’t know how to respond. I knew that I should be offended and probably hurt, but I wasn’t. I know that girls in Romania, especially gypsy girls, are actually sold into marriage. It’s a sad and tragic thing, but in that moment, I knew who I was, whom I belonged to, and that I was not for sale.
Last month, in Ireland, God was really working on showing me my identity. My identity in Christ is who I really am. It doesn’t matter how other people see me, or even how I see myself sometimes. I am a daughter of the one true God and this is how he sees me:
- None of my past matters. I am new in Christ Jesus. My previous mindset and actions are erased clean by my father’s love.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.
- My new self, in Christ Jesus, is righteous and holy. I am made in the image of my heavenly father. As his daughter I am given the title of righteous and holy.
- Ephesians 4:24 – And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
- I have been saved by His grace, and there is nothing that I could do that could reach beyond the distance of his grace.
- Ephesians 2:8 – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.
- My inward and outward beauty is radiant. The light of Jesus inside of me shines brightly for everyone to see. Everywhere I go I radiate light.
- Matthew 5:14 – You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
- I am a child of God, and as such, I shine as a light in the world against the darkness that covers it. I stand out because of the presence that I carry inside of me, which is Jesus.
- Philippians 2:15 – That you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.
- I am a daughter of light. Where I go, I shine and stomp out darkness.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:5 – For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.
- Because I am the daughter of the king of kings, I am a princess in the kingdom of heaven. I have the authority of a princess.
- 1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of the darkness into his marvelous light.
I know who my heavenly father is, and I know that I am not for sale. I am worth so much more than any person on this earth has to offer.
As our squad was worshipping at debrief last week, God gave me a picture of our worth in this world. He explained our worth as compared to the worth of a piece of art…
Once an artist becomes well known and famous, his creations become worth more. We are beautiful works of art, created by the same artist that created the Grand Canyon, the Himalayas, sunsets and sunrises. As humans, we are created in God’s image. We are created by God, who is the greatest artist that ever was. You can only imagine how much each one of us is worth. It is much greater than any amount of money on this earth. We are not for sale. We are priceless.
