One of the deepest truths believers in Jesus must learn to live from is this: we are children of the living God. That is not just a comforting thought for hard days. It is the foundation of who we are.
In Ephesians 5, Paul shows us what life should look like when we understand that we are loved by the Father. He writes, “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:1–2).
That phrase, “dearly loved children,” speaks right into the heart of this devotion. Earthly titles can be painful when they are out of reach. Some people long to be called mother or father. Others lose the title that once gave them confidence, like a career, a position, or a role in the family. But in Christ, God gives us an identity that does not depend on what we have achieved, what we have lost, or what others call us. We are His beloved children.
Paul does not stop with identity. He moves from who we are to how we live. Because we are loved children, we are called to “walk in the way of love” (Ephesians 5:2). Love becomes the path under our feet. It becomes the way we speak, the way we treat people, the way we handle desire, disappointment, success, and pain.
Paul then names the kind of life that does not belong to God’s children. He says, “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed” (Ephesians 5:3). He also warns against “obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking,” and calls believers instead to thanksgiving (v. 4).
This is not Paul trying to strip joy out of life. He is showing us that a loved child of God no longer has to live under the control of empty desires. Greed says, “I am not enough unless I have more.” Impurity says, “I can use what God made sacred for my own hunger.” Careless speech says, “My words do not matter.” But thanksgiving says something different. Thanksgiving says, “God has given me life, grace, mercy, and a place in His family.”
That is a whole new way to live.
Later in the same chapter, Paul says, “Live as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). Then he adds, “for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth” (v. 9). He also says, “Find out what pleases the Lord” (v. 10).
This is the life of a person whose identity has been healed by God. We do not obey Him to earn love. We obey because we have already been loved. We do not walk in the light to prove our worth. We walk in the light because Christ has brought us out of darkness.
Paul’s words also connect with one of the major themes in his letters: transformation. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, he writes, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
That means the believer is not trapped in the old story. Not by shame. Not by loss. Not by a missing title. Not by the pain of what life has not given. In Christ, there is a new beginning. There is a new name. There is a new way to walk.
When Paul tells believers to be “imitators of God” (Ephesians 5:1), he is using the language of family. Children often copy what they see in their parents. In the same way, God’s children are called to reflect the heart of their Father. We learn His love. We receive His mercy. We grow in His holiness. We begin to resemble Him in the way we live.
And the pattern for this life is Jesus.
Ephesians 5:2 says Christ “loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” His love was not only spoken; it was given. He offered Himself fully, willingly, and obediently. His sacrifice was pleasing to the Father, and it opened the way for us to belong to God.
This is why our identity in Christ is so secure. It was not purchased by our strength, our status, our family situation, or our success. It was purchased by the love and sacrifice of Jesus.
So when we say, “I am a child of God,” we are not reaching for a small comfort. We are standing on the truth of the gospel. We are saying that our worth has been spoken by the Father, secured by the Son, and sealed by the Spirit.
The world may measure people by roles, titles, achievements, relationships, or possessions. But God calls His people beloved children. And from that place of love, we learn to walk in love, live in the light, and seek what pleases Him.
By Asher Christman