OPENING STATEMENT:

Most people don’t wake up and say, “I’m searching for significance” – but every decision we make is trying to answer one question: “Do I matter?”

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm 139: 13-14 NIV)

• We are fearfully and wonderfully made and we matter to God.

Am I now trying to WIN THE APPROVAL OF HUMAN BEINGS, OR OF GOD? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10 NIV)

• You cannot build your identity on the approval of people and the calling of God. You will have to choose!

Paul gives us 3 warnings – The wrong identity

#1: Approval-Based Identity: If people accept me, then I have value

• Don’t live your life for likes, praise and affirmation.
• You cannot serve both God and the approval of people.

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God?” (Galatians 1:10 NIV)

#2: Shame- Based Identity: Because of my past, I am disqualified

• Shame doesn’t just remind you of what you’ve done – it isolates you and convinces you that you are unworthy of being seen, known, and loved.
• Your past may explain you, but it does not define you.

“Therefore, there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are IN CHRIST Jesus.” (Romans 8:1 NIV)

#3: Performance-Based Identity: If I do well, I am worthy. If I fail, I am nothing.

• The standard is always moving. You never arrive. How exhausting!
• Believers struggle with this spiritual performance: “If I pray enough, serve enough…”
• Many even treat salvation based on performance

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT)

Do I Matter? In Christ and in Christ alone we do!

#1: In Christ- You are fully Accepted

God does not tolerate you – He welcomes you

To the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. (Ephesians 1:6–7)

Therefore, accept each other just as CHRIST HAS ACCEPTED you so that God will be given glory. (Romans 15:7 NLT)

• You don’t belong because you earned it
• You belong because He chose you

#2: In Christ- You are Deeply Loved

But God SHOWED HIS GREAT LOVE FOR US by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8 NLT)

God loved you at your worst—not your best.

• His love is not fragile
• His love is not conditional
• His love is not performance-based

#3: In Christ- You are Completely Forgiven

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14 NLT)

• Not partially forgiven. Not mostly forgiven.
• Completely forgiven.
• There is no outstanding balance on your life.

#4: In Christ- You are Truly Significant

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)

• You are not an accident.
• You are not random.
• You were created on purpose, for a purpose.

CONCLUSION:

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?