Have you ever made an acrostic with your name or someone else’s name? You know, like Ted: Terrific, Exciting, Dynamic.
I think it is often a fun exercise and when you do it for someone else it builds them up and lets them know how you view them. Often the words fit just right to describe someone’s personality or how they are viewed, their identity.
I am constantly reminded in scripture how we need to view our identity through the grid of how God views us. Verses like 1 Peter 2:9 which talks about how we are a chosen people that belong to God, or Ephesians 1:4-5 which discusses how we are adopted in Christ, or Ephesians 2:10 describing how we are God’s workmanship created in Christ are a few verses that come to mind.
We need to view ourselves through the grid of how God sees us. Why? Well, first of all it gives us the most accurate view of ourselves because God as the creator and sustainer of the universe has the best view and the clearest vision considering he created us. Secondly, our identity will effect everything that we think and do and how we respond to what takes place in our lives.
Here is an exercise to help put us in the best position to view our identity as God sees us. Take your first name, and in the comments section below choose words that describe God’s view of you that start with each letter of your name. I have listed out the alphabet with a number of truths from God’s word about our identity if we have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. Feel free to use those to construct your acrostic or come up with your own.
I think you will be moved and edified as you think about each letter of your name, and you let God’s view of you in Christ influence how you see yourself.
- A – Adopted (Eph 1:5)
- B – Born Again (1 Peter 1:2-3)
- C – Created (Gen 1:27)
- D – Delivered (Matt 6:134, 2 Tim 4:18)
- E – Empowered (2 Cor 12:9, 2 Tim 1:7)
- F – Found (Luke 15:32)
- G – Grace Steward (1 Peter 4:10)
- H – Holy (Col 3:12)
- I – Inheritance of God (Eph 1:18, Deut 32:9, Ps 33:12)
- J – Justified (Rom 5:1-2)
- K – Known (1 Cor 8:3, Gal 4:9)
- L – Loved (Rom 5:8)
- M – Member of the Body (1 Cor 12:27)
- N – New Creation (2 Cor 5:17)
- O – Owned (2 Cor. 1:21-22)
- P – Purchased (1 Cor 6:20)
- Q – Quest (Luke 19:10: God came to seek and save that which is lost)
- R – Redeemed (Gal 3:13, 1 Pe 1:18)
- S – Sanctified (1 Cor 1:2)
- T – Treasured (Mal 3:17)
- U – Unique (1 Pe 2:9)
- V – Victor (1 Cor 15:57, Rom 8:37, 2 Cor 2:14)
- W -Workmanship (Eph 2:10)
- X – eXulted (Matt 23:12, James 4:10)
- Y – Yoke-fellow, Yoke Bearer (Phil 4:3, Matt 11:30 – true companion bonded together by Gospel, a bearer of Christ’s yoke)
- Z – Zapped (Col 1:12-13: think being teleported from one kingdom to another :)
After you do the exercise and list your name in the comments, say, “I am”…and then say all the words that identify you in Christ that make up your name. Then praise God with thanksgiving for how he views you, not on the basis of your own merit, but because of the person and work of Jesus Christ.
