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According to the Oxford Dictionary, validation is recognition or affirmation that a person or their feelings or opinions are valid or worthwhile. Everyone is seeking validation, to know that they matter.
This is how God validates us: 1. He sacrificed his son for you John 3:16 says, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. 2. He calls you his friend 1 John 15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 3. He chose us Ephesians 1:11 In Christ we were chosen to be God's people. 4. He blesses us Ephesians 1:3 In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven. If the God who created the universe validates you, no one else's opinion matters.  If you are a Christian, your eternal address is the new heaven and earth, not this one. That's why you might feel like a foreigner here sometimes. If you have ever visited another country you might have felt unfamiliar with the food, smells, clothing, language, and customs there. The culture, values and customs of this world are different to those of the Spirit. In fact, they are the complete opposite. Galatians 5: 16-17 says, If you are guided by the Spirit, you won’t obey your selfish desires. The Spirit and your desires are enemies of each other. They are always fighting each other and keeping you from doing what you feel you should.
Galatians 5:19-21 lists the customs of this world. People’s desires make them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds. They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the customs of those of faith. God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, 23 gentle, and self-controlled. As you can see - they are the complete opposite. We need to be careful that we don't start following the customs of the world. Instead we need to be radically different to the world. The main thing that should set us apart is our love. John 13:35 says, All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other. When people look at you can they tell that you're a spiritual foreigner?  John 15:15 says, I don’t call you servants now. A servant does not know what his master is doing. But now I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father.
It is so amazing that the God who made the universe, who hung the stars in the sky and created the mountains and oceans, wants to be friends with me. He doesn't choose his friends based on how attractive they are, or how much money they earn. In John 15:14 Jesus says, You are my friends if you do what I command you. Romans 5:10-11 says, We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life! But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God's friends. Before you become a Christian you are God's enemy because you do what you want, not what God wants. When you become a Christian, you do what God wants, because you love him. You are counted as God's friend because Jesus died for you.  When we decide to follow Jesus we become a new creation. God's Holy Spirit moves in and helps transform us. This process is both immediate and lifelong all at the same time. We immediately become children of God but our transformation into the likeness of Christ takes a lifetime.
Romans 8:5 says, Those who live following their sinful selves think only about things that their sinful selves want. But those who live following the Spirit are thinking about the things that the Spirit wants them to do. This new creature that we become thinks less about our sinful selves and more about what God wants us to do. And what does God want us to do, you ask? Here is a very simplified list:
Is there a particular area of your life that you think God is challenging to you transform to be more like Jesus? |
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