You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3:26–28
See yourself as God sees you
A person's view of himself tends to be relative—relative to the people around him. For example, I am below average in height. Most of the time, when I am with a group of people, I am looking up and feel quite short. But when I am with my extended family, I am one of the tallest people in the room. And when I am asked to reach something from the top shelf of the pantry, I feel quite tall.
People often view their morality in a similar way. They compare themselves to the people around them and feel either good or bad about themselves depending upon what they see in those other people.
But we do not have a God who compares us to other people. He compares us to himself. He expects us to be as holy, and loving, and caring, and selfless as he is. Unlike when we compare ourselves to other people, when we compare ourselves to the one, true God, we cannot see ourselves as anything but complete moral failures.
Which is why it is such a shock—a wonderful shock—to hear what the apostle Paul tell us in Galatians, chapter 3: "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
What a glorious surprise! Regardless of how you see yourself, regardless of how you stack up when compared to other people, God sees you as sinless because you are clothed in the perfect life of Jesus. He sees every baptized follower of Christ this way. It doesn't matter what gender you are, what color you are, what kind of job you hold, what kind of grades you get, or what language you speak. Through faith in Christ you are a child of the living God!
Now, how does THAT make you feel?
Prayer:
Thank you, Father, for making me your child though faith in your Son, Jesus. Cleanse my guilty conscience with the knowledge that I am holy in your sight. And lead me to live as your child this day. Amen.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. 
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