Word of the Week - Affirmation
You are God’s chosen treasure-priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience His marvelous light, and now He claims you as His very own. He did this so that you would broadcast His glorious wonders throughout the world.” 1 Peter 2:9 (The Passion Translation)
Affirmation is the process of affirming someone by making positive assertions. Simply put, finding things about people that are positive and true and speaking into them to encourage and strengthen. Affirmations are powerful and typically bring out the best in us if communicated and received in the right way. I think we would all agree that we all like being affirmed, especially by those who we love and desire to please like our parents, friends and mentors. There is power in affirmation in that it typically encourages us and reinforces positive and life giving behaviors.
Biblical Affirmation: The bible is full of spiritual affirmations from God towards us. The key is that we must truly understand who we are in Christ so we can receive these affirmations. This can be a life transforming reality when we understand that when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become beloved sons and daughters of the living God. In this reality, we have tremendous benefits as co-heirs with Christ. This power becomes available to us “today” if we take hold of it and walk in it. It is not just a thing for the future when we get to heaven, it is something we can take hold of and experience “today” and this is what Jesus desires for us. “Today is the day the Lord has made, lets us rejoice and be glad in it” Psalm 118:24
A few Biblical Affirmations: The following are just a few biblical affirmations that are what God our Abba Father says about you and me in His Word. Let’s receive this and walk in it today. In Jesus we are:
- Redeemed – “But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship/daughtership.” Galatians 4:4-5
- Renewed – “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day”. 2 Corinthians 4:16
- Restored – “And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal Glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself Restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast”. 1 Peter 5:10
- Reconciled – “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of Reconciliation: that God was reconciling to himself in Christ, not counting our sins against us”. 2 Corinthians 5: 18-19
- Rescued – “For He Rescued us from dominion with darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.” Colossians 1:13
- Resurrected – “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:11
- Righteousness – “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
My good friend Chuck Scott is constantly affirming me and all the men in his center of influence about who we are in Christ, the 7 affirmations I highlighted above that start with R, and encouraging us to receive this reality and walk in it “today”. There is amazing power in these biblical affirmations. They have the power to transform our lives. We all have an enemy of our soul who’s objective is to keep us from receiving this truth and somehow making us believe that God is not pleased with us. He is a liar. To overcome, we must reinforce these affirmations daily by praying and meditating on God’s truth found in His word that clearly define who we are in Christ.
I am going to make this a 2022 focus, to revisit these affirmations daily, so I can reinforce this amazing truth and walk in it. I am also going to purpose to speak these affirmations over those around me to remind them of how God sees them.
Let’s make 2022 a year of receiving and speaking affirmation and see what God does in us and through us!!!!
-Duane