Understanding Your True Worth
In our culture, we often define our identity, worth, and reputation through external labels, achievements, appearances, and social status. We work hard to be accepted by the world around us, taking pride in things that reflect our efforts to make a name for ourselves.
While there’s nothing wrong with acknowledging our efforts, we must be careful not to place our trust in self-effort or the unstable foundation of worldly approval. Our true identity, worth, and reputation are rooted in who God says we are, not in what we do.
Everything you achieve in this world can be taken from you. You can receive the highest promotion and lose it. Your investments can plummet. But when you enter into covenant with Christ, you become part of His spiritual lineage. The blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are passed on to you through your faith in Christ.
What Are Spiritual Blessings in Christ?
In Ephesians 1:3, Paul writes: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”
This verse highlights that the blessings we receive in Christ are spiritual, not earthly. While many churches focus heavily on earthly blessings, Christ came to give the church spiritual blessings.
What’s the Difference Between Spiritual and Earthly Blessings?
Spiritual blessings are those things we need to live like heaven on earth, while earthly blessings are those things we need to live on earth. Earthly blessings are necessary, but they should never replace the spiritual blessings you receive in Christ.
In Deuteronomy 8:10-14, God warns the Israelites about the danger of earthly blessings: “When you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them… when your silver and your gold are multiplied… then your heart will be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God.”
Why Are Spiritual Blessings More Valuable?
Our spiritual blessings are eternal and nourish our souls. These include:
- Salvation
- The indwelling of the Holy Spirit
- Revelation from God
- Access to God’s presence
- Hope of eternal life
Spiritual blessings keep us seeking God’s kingdom, knowing earthly blessings will follow. As Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Our human tendency is to worry about daily needs like food, clothing, finances, and health. Instead of being consumed by these things, Jesus urges us to seek first the kingdom and the right way to live. This isn’t a promise of luxury, but of sufficiency—God will meet your needs, not necessarily your wants.
Four Spiritual Blessings We Have in Christ
1. You Are Reserved by God
“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).
You are God’s chosen in Christ. Before you were born, God reserved you just for Him. Before He laid the foundation of the world, God purposed in Himself to choose us to be His people by faith through Christ.
This is called eternal security. John 6:37 says, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” What a blessing to be chosen!
2. You Are Being Restored
“That we should be holy and without blame before Him in love” (Ephesians 1:4).
Holiness is the means and love is the context. God set us apart for obedience, purity, and righteousness so that He may restore us to the image of Christ just as He intended before the fall. His purpose is not to improve us, but to transform us, bringing us back to alignment with His original design for humanity.
Everything we do in holiness must happen within the framework of us responding to what God has done for us. Holiness is how we live; love is how we express it. 1 John 4:19 says, “We love Him because He first loved us.”
Holiness without love becomes a rule-based relationship that causes obedience out of fear or retaliation. But when we stand before Him in love, we grow in holiness best when rooted in love, not legalism.
How does God restore us?
God refines our faith like gold that is tested by fire. 1 Peter 1:7 says, “That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire.”
When gold is refined, it’s not pure until the refiner can see their reflection in it. Similarly, your faith is not genuine until God can see His reflection in your faith. When you act like God—praising Him even when everything is going against you—God says, “That’s pure gold.”
3. You Are Adopted
“Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:5-6).
God adopted you into His family with great joy. He chose us for relationship and purpose. Predestination means God’s sovereign plan in determining the destiny of those He has chosen. Romans 8:29 says He “predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son.”
It was “the good pleasure of His will”—God was delighted and overjoyed to do this. And He did it “to the praise of the glory of His grace,” meaning He wants us to respond with gratitude and praise for His unearned grace.
We’re not randomly saved; we’ve been intentionally chosen and predestined to be adopted into His family as His children.
4. You Are Redeemed
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
We’re redeemed and forgiven by His grace, not by our merit. “We have redemption through His blood” means the price has been paid for our sins by His blood. “The forgiveness of sins” means we’re pardoned by His blood. And it’s “according to the riches of His grace,” which means He will never run out of grace for us.
Life Application
In Christ, we’re blessed with every spiritual blessing: we’re reserved (chosen by God), restored