How amazing it truly is that God has called each of us His beloved. He sees us as nothing less than daughters of the King. His treasure. His chosen ones. Women to be honored. Celebrated. Seen. Known. And dearly, dearly loved.  

How might our lives be different if we believed our belovedness was our truest identity, above all else?  

I recently looked up the meanings of my given names (both English and Chinese) which confirmed what God has been revealing about the unique way He created me to reflect His image.  

A woman of integrity 

Breathed into my being 

From the very beginning 

My God-given identity 

My essence 

Enabling me to stand under opposition 

And walk without fear  

Into the future 

Honored 

Upheld 

Protected 

Empowered 

With a seat saved at the Table 

And my name(s) engraved 

By God Himself 

My Creator, My Inviter 

Jodie (Hebrew) 

Praised 

Grace of God 

He will add 

Lynne (Welsh) 

Beautiful 

Waterfall 

Lake 

 德 “De” 

Inherent character 

Inner power 

Integrity 

爱 “Ai” 

To love through actions 

And with the heart 

Affection 

I am believing and receiving 

God’s gift of more for me 

Trusting there is 

Beauty yet to be found  

Discovering 

The depths 

Of who I most truly am 

In God’s eyes. 

The Apostle John marveled, “Think of the love the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children; and that is what we are.” (1 John 3:1)

In Abba’s Child, Brennan Manning expounds, “My dignity as Abba’s child is my most coherent sense of self. When I seek to fashion a self-image from the adulation of others and the inner voice whispers, ‘You’ve arrived; you’re a player in the Kingdom enterprise,’ there is no truth in that self-concept. When I sink into despondency and the inner voice whispers, ‘You are no good, a fraud, a hypocrite, and a dilettante,’ there is no truth in any image shaped from that message. As Gerald May has noted, ‘It is important to recognize these self-commentaries for the mind tricks they are. They have nothing to do with our real dignity. How we view ourselves at any given moment may have very little to do with who we really are.” 

Who does God say you really are? And do you believe it?