Do You Believe You are Worthy of the Calling?

I have struggled and questioned my worth throughout my life. It was a culmination of repeated digs, unkind words, and hurtful incidents that had eroded away at my soul and self-confidence. The wounds I carried formed scars that altered my inner self, the person God created me to be. Or so I thought.

How could the Lord love me, as flawed as I am? How could I possibly be deemed worthy of His love? I doubted myself and felt like I didn’t matter. But the Lord let me know otherwise! He loved me through my worst times, my humiliations, and failures. Jesus loved me greater than I could ever love myself. He accepted me just as I was, flawed and broken, and loved me despite and because of it.

I know I am not alone with identity struggles or feeling worthy. I think we may all fall into the trap of placing our worth into other people’s hands or allowing life to dictate who and what we are. But the One whose opinion counts the most loves us with an eternal love. The Lord’s love for us never deviates, it is steadfast. He created us in His image.

How could I have ever doubted my value or worth when I am an heiress of His heavenly kingdom? Yet I did. I struggled to see myself as Jesus sees me. I doubted that I was enough. Lord, forgive me.

Ephesians 2: 4, 5 (NIV) But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.

We tend to look outwardly to seek approval of our value and validation that we matter. Or we look inward at all our failures and brokenness. Instead, we need to look up, into the face of Jesus. We need to look at ourselves through the lens of faith, with its softened edges, lacking harshness, condemnation, or judgment. If we turn the lens of our worth back to Jesus, He will show us a love like we have never seen. We are His creation, accepted, worthy of His calling. We are His beloved. His blessed children.

I recently had the opportunity to be part of the launch for Sarah Koontz’s free online bible study on Ephesians, Worthy of the Calling. The title called my name and I knew I needed to take part in it. As I read through Day 2 of the study I saw the title “You Were Chosen by God”. I knew this truth in my mind, but did I believe this in my soul? Do I feel worthy of the calling He has placed upon me? Do you? Sarah’s study on Ephesian’s is a great way to be reminded and dig deeper into our identity in Christ. We are worthy of Christ’s love. Every. One. Of. Us.

This is the action point in Sarah’s study, Day 2. I loved this!
Action Point: Take a moment to think of one thing that makes you feel “unworthy” of God’s love. Then open your Bible to Psalm 103:11-13 {read online} and plug your shortcoming, regret, or pain into that Scripture. Then remind yourself of this: no matter how far you fall, you are never beyond the reach of God’s love and forgiveness!

This 31-day bible study is transformative! The book of Ephesians covers powerful truths of who we are in Christ, and how to live that out in our lives. Sarah’s study really spoke to my wounded soul. I was filled with the rich truths of our worth in Christ. We are His beloved. His Chosen Ones! I pray you decide to sign up and step into the book of Ephesians and be reminded that we are always worthy of His great love for us.

Quotes that really stood out for me from “Worthy of the Calling” by Sarah Koontz:

• “All the words that once defined you and me—unworthy, unvalued, unnecessary—define us no longer.”
• “You were chosen in love, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in God’s sight through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.” 

Sarah Koontz makes the book of Ephesians understandable and relatable. She does a beautiful job of breaking down the truths that we are worthy of being called the Lord’s chosen ones and heirs to His Kingdom. Sarah sprinkles in a little humor to keep the study engaging and fun. I loved the deeper understanding I gained from the book of Ephesians and how richly the Lord loves us. Most importantly, that we are worthy, no matter what our circumstances are or what we’ve been told or led to believe by others.

• The Lord loves us right where we are, in our brokenness, our sadness, our joy, and our pain.
• When we are feeling unlovable or unloved, we need to turn our faces to Jesus, who loves us fully, deeply, and eternally.

I want to personally invite you to join me on this 31-day journey through the book of Ephesians. Together we will learn about our identity in Christ and the spiritual wealth we have access to as daughters of God. We will discover God has provided all we need to walk worthy of the calling we have received. This study was crafted with busy women in mind and can easily be completed on your mobile device or computer.

Here are 7 quick facts about the Worthy of the Calling Study:

▪It’s a FREE email-based online Bible study.
▪It takes just 10-15 minutes per day to complete.
▪It follows five days on, two days off format.
▪It covers the whole book of Ephesians.
▪It includes 4 free digital gifts from Sarah’s Creative Partners.
▪ It launched on October 16, 2017
▪ Register today at SarahKoontz.com/Worthy

Throughout the month of October, we will be celebrating the release of this powerful new study with weekly giveaways at SarahKoontz.com and other collaborating blogs.

Shop all of the items offered as giveaways for the Launch Party at SarahKoontz.com/WorthyShop.

Enter for your chance to win beautiful gifts handcrafted by two amazing women!

October 23-30 Giveaway: 3 Original Watercolors by Neely Beattie + 3 Inspirational Pendants by Ashley Nichole Collection (3 winners, total value $108)

Enter the Giveaway by clicking the link below:

Worthy of Calling Giveaway

I pray you decide to join the Bible study, Worthy of the Calling.  As you dive deeper into His truths you will be reminded, as I was, that we are not only worthy, we are His beloved.  I’m confident that you’ll be blessed by Sarah’s wonderful study on Ephesians.

Blessings my friends,

Susan Bricker

 

 

Sarah Koontz is a passionate storyteller who enjoys using illustrations to communicate deep spiritual truths. Sarah writes to inspire women of all ages to explore the beauty of God’s design at SarahKoontz.com. Sarah lives on 13-acres in South Dakota with her husband, two daughters and a rowdy flock of chickens. She revels in their simple, uncluttered life.

You can also find Sarah on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Read Sarah’s full bio here.