The most encouraging and comforting to know about our relationship with God, who loved us dearly, is that He has chosen us to be His own people. Ephesians 1:4 even went further about when He chose us, "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes." It is incredible to know that God loved us before He created the world and chose us to be His. He knew and loved us even when we were not created yet. He knew before He chose us that we would sin and have many weaknesses and failures, yet that did not stop Him from loving and choosing us for Him. It means that we do not need to prove ourselves to be loved and be chosen. He loved and chose us just the way He created us. We do not need to pretend to be someone else, but be ourselves and be honest before Him.
Since I started helping in coaching youth soccer, the youth who wanted to be in the team always wanted to impress the coaches to make sure that they were chosen to be in the team. They thought that we would choose them to be in the team if they were good enough. However, they didn't realize that before we started practicing, the coaches made up their minds that they were all chosen even if they were not good players because the coaches were determined to train them to become good soccer players. When God chose us to be His before the creation of the world, He was determined to save and change us to be the people He wanted us to be.
As believers of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are His not because of what we have done but because of what He has done in our lives. We can relax and have peace that we are His no matter what happens. We do not need to prove ourselves with our good works before Him. When we ask ourselves these questions, "Have I prayed enough? Have I done well enough? Have I served enough? Have I gone to church enough? Have I read the Bible enough? Have I given enough?," it means that we are still trying to prove ourselves to God. Instead, we need to pray a surrendered attitude before Him like this, "Lord God I surrender my life to you. You know all my failures, mistakes, sin, and weaknesses. Please change my heart and make me to be the person that you want me to be," God then will continue to transform us to be the person He wants us to be. Always remember that God has chosen us to be His people forever, and He will continue to change our hearts until His transforming works in us are done.
Ask yourself these questions: What does it mean to be chosen by God? When did God choose me to be His? How should I live my life now that I know that God chose me before the creation of the world?
Write down all the worries you are facing today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank you for choosing me to be your precious child before you created the world. Please help me to rest and have peace that I am forever yours because you love me dearly and unconditionally. Please help me not prove myself to you by my good works, but to surrender everything to you and be willing to listen and obey as you are changing me to be the person you want me to be. In your name Jesus, I pray. Amen.