You Are God's Princess

Authored by: Jacqueline
Co-Authored with: Ian

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One day the supervisor's daughter joined the staff meeting at work. She was an attractive young lady in her early to mid twenties. This was the first time I saw her. She walked into the room full of confidence because she takes personal security in the fact that her father is the department head of a famous university. Her appearance and behaviour were so elegant that it makes people naturally respect her. After admiring her for a while, I turned to look at all the other ladies in our group. In comparison, although they have pretty faces, everyone’s body language seems to indicate that they lack confidence because their families are all of lower social class and none of them have celebrated fathers. 

I was astonished by how confident this woman is, as like the other ladies in the group I also have a low self-esteem. Although I have believed in God for many years, deep in my heart I am still influenced strongly by my family background. However I think I first need to explain where I am coming from.   Many cultures throughout the world dictate that honour and respect will be given to the lady who has a rich and famous father. If a man wanted to pursue the president's daughter, chances are he will try hard to impress her and her father, and do no harm to her; and this is largely due to him being the president of a country. In sum no matter who a girl is as a person or how beautiful or ugly she is or smart or stupid she is there are many places around the world which teach that as long as she has a rich father, she should be honoured. The lie that social classes determines how much worth and self-worth one should have is still being pounded into so many people’s minds today.

However, my walk with Jesus taught me that my identity does not depend on where society slots me based on how much money my family has or doesn’t have. Rather, my identity is dependant on who I am. So who am I? I am someone who is “fearfully and wonderfully made” - Psalms 139:14. I am someone who was made by God and made in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). I am someone who broke God’s laws but who is loved by God so much so that He took His punishment for my sin onto his shoulders so that I could have a chance to be called his daughter, (John 1:12). I am someone who has purpose, namely to represent God (Matthew 28:19).

Until that day in the meeting, I realized that I forgot that I have a heavenly Father. My heavenly Father is the richest in the universe, but not only because He created the universe and everything in it belongs to Him (Colossians 1:16) but also because he is rich in love (Ephesians 2:4). My heavenly Father is the most powerful in the world (cf. Psalms 65:6), because He is God, the King who rules all (Psalm 47:7). 

My fellow sisters in Christ, let’s put this into perspective. If an earthly father who is only more rich than others can bring such influence to his daughters, resulting in them holding their heads up high, what influence do we as daughters of God have based on God being who He is, namely our heavenly Father? The Apostle Paul gives this promise to all who follow Christ: we can be “confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6). My dear sisters in Christ, no matter your family social status, that is, rich or poor, as daughters of our heavenly Father we all can be confident in that we have a calling that supersedes any status that any human culture can slot us in. God is working and His work that He is doing through us will allow us to have a great influence in this world. 

However, we can also be confident that, as an earthly parent should, our heavenly Father will look after us. Jesus says: 

For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? - Matthew 6:25-26.

Again, Jesus asks us: are we not worth much more than the birds of the air? (Matthew 6:26). Yes. Therefore we should be confident in the knowledge that we have worth and it is Jesus who determines that worth, not culture or family social status. Jesus thought us worthy enough to die for us; this of course doesn’t mean that we are worthy of his sacrifice, as nobody is, but God loved us so much that he thought that we were worth saving (John 3:16). We are precious princesses who are redeemed by Jesus' blood (Ephesians 1:7). God demonstrated “His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God did this with a perfect love (1 John 4:12). 

To conclude, how can we continue to use imperfect love to deny or harm ourselves? Our heavenly Father is saying to you and to me: "My child, you are tired and weary. Come home! Receive my love!" (cf. Matthew 11:28). As a sister in Christ, I beg you: don't refuse His love again and again. You are searching for unfailing love in all the wrong places. Come home and receive His faithful and everlasting love!

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[i] - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Cima_da_Conegliano%2C_God_the_Father.jpg - accessed July 27, 2015