I’m More Than What I Achieve or Produce
“Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.” Genesis 11:30
I’ve struggled with a misplaced identity for decades. As a kid and through much of my adult years, I considered myself an athlete and an overcomer. And an insignificant annoyance. These two false realities continually fought for dominance. When I achieved something significant, pride temporarily allowed me to silence my inner lies. But when my efforts didn’t produce the results I’d hoped or others didn’t respond as expected, I’d feel defeated.
Worthless.
Unable to grasp my true identity in Christ, I continually allowed external circumstances and momentary achievements to cheapen, distract, and confuse me.
In allowing the subjective and external to validate and define me, I lost sight of who I was. Who God created me to be. It wasn’t until I learned to plant both feet firmly in His love, truth, and grace that I began to rise above my circumstances and other people’s opinions, perceptions, and poor behaviors.
I am not what I do or achieve or produce. I am an empowered, chosen, redeemed child of God deemed worthy of His Son. Someone with every reason for confidence and zero cause for insecurity or fear.
For years, women have been defined by their roles and behaviors. In Ancient Mesopotamia, where the woman today’s verse references lived, this involved how well they maintained their home and the children they bore. Motherhood was viewed as a woman’s primary reason for existence. Barrenness was considered a huge failure and shame, the thing that made a wife considerably less valuable, if not worthless. But God used the story of a once infertile woman introduced in Genesis 11 to reveal His grace and love.
To Him, we’re so much more than caretakers or wives or teachers or short-order cooks.
His opinion is the only One worth giving voice to.
We’re adored, redeemed, daughters of the King—the One who willingly died for us in order to draw us near so that we could find ourselves, completely, in Him.
Jennifer Slattery is a writer, speaker, and the founder of Wholly Loved Ministries. Find her podcast, Faith Over Fear on LifeAudio.com and find her books on her Amazon page. When not writing, reading, or editing, Jennifer loves going on mall outings with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband. Visit her online at jenniferslatterylivesoutloud.com.
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Originally published Wednesday, 24 April 2024.
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