Like so many others have done, do now, and will do when they search for their identity, I was looking for my core sense of who I was. Is one’s identity tied inexorably to his or her genetics and genealogy? Are we destined to be the product of our ancestors’ genetics and parenting styles? Can we rise above bad parental examples?

I come from Polish and Indian roots. My family was deeply broken and full of pain. And, had I not met and married Mark Shick, who introduced me to my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, I suspect I would have succumbed to those troubled family ties. But Jesus did help me to rise above. He made me a new person. He helped me see that identity is more an issue of the heart than of nature or nurture. When a person places his or her faith in Christ, He gives that person a new identity (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). Then He sends His Holy Spirit to enable that person to live up to that new identity.

As a new person in Christ, I’m no longer the little mother, the confused confidant, the teen trying to find meaning in her looks, or even just a wife and mother (as wonderful as those last two are). I am Denise Shick, daughter of the Lord of the universe! 

·      I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ unto good works (Ephesians 2:10).

·      I am a joint-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17).

·      I am delivered from the power of darkness and translated into God’s kingdom (Colossians 1:13).

·      I am greatly loved by God (Romans 1:7; Ephesians 2:4; Colossians 3:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:4).

·      I am strengthened with all might according to His glorious power (Colossians 1:11).

·      I am firmly rooted, built up, established in my faith, and overflowing with gratitude (Colossians 2:7).

·      I have the peace of God that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

·      I have no lack, for my God supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

·      I am forgiven of all my sins and washed in Christ’s blood (Ephesians 1:7).

·      I can do all things through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:13).

What an incredible identity! What an incredible family! How would you like to have your identity as part of this family? If so, it’s easy. Jesus made it clear that entrance into His family is simple. He said it like this:

·      “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17).

·      “‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die’” (John 11:25-26).

·      And when a terrified jailer asked the apostles Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved, the apostles answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household” (Acts 16:31).

If you have not done so, will you choose now to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Will you choose to become a son or daughter of the Lord of the universe? Will you choose to find your identity in Him? And when you do so, will you then choose to live in a way that reflects your royal identity and draws others to that royal identity?