The Ache We Carry
If you’re anything like me, you’ve known that quiet ache—that gnawing whisper that maybe you’re not enough, maybe you don’t belong, maybe God feels distant. Even when we’ve sung the songs, prayed the prayers, or given ourselves as fully as we can in service, there are moments when our souls slip into shadow and we wonder if Love has slipped away too.
But here is the astonishing truth that steadies my heart again and again: God’s love is not fragile.Hedoes not come and go like the tide. He is eternal, fierce, tender, and unrelenting. The gospel is not about us climbing up to reach Him; it is the revelation that God has always reached down into our humanity, assuming humanity itself, even and especially in our darkness, claiming us as His own.
Love Himself put on skin in Christ to silence the question once and for all: Are we truly wanted? Do we really belong? And does He truly reside in all humanity?
The answer, radiant and resounding, is yes!
The Belonging Question
In my recent conversation with Francois du Toit, he said something that still echoes in me like a bell: “You cannot be lost unless you belong.”
Oh, doesn’t that just UNDO you?
We’ve spent so much of our energy trying to prove our worth, defend our belonging, or earn God’s favor. But if you cannot be lost unless you belong, then you already have always belonged. You’ve always been seen, always been known, and always been cherished!
The Mirror Translation of Colossians 2:9–10 says:
In Him, the completeness of Deity dwells embodied, and you too are complete in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
Pause and breathe that in. Savour it in your being. God as Love has restored the very foundation of our identity—not as something to strive toward, but as a highest reality to awaken to. You don’t become a child of God by trying harder; you remember you’ve always been one.
Like a diamond buried beneath the earth, your brilliance never diminished by the soil covering it, you are a treasure.
The gospel doesn’t create your worth; it unveils it!
God’s Love in Jesus
So what does this belonging look like? It looks like Jesus.
The Incarnation is the clearest, most breathtaking revelation of God’s love. Jesus did not come as a temporary visitor with an overnight bag—He came fully invested, clothed in our flesh, inhabiting our humanity, tabernacling with us to prove we are the home He has always longed for.
This is the profound truth that Paulo Coelho penned in his novel The Alchemist: “We were home before we ever left!” As Francois reminded us, this wasn’t a divine experiment. It was Papa’s eternal dream. Jesus reveals what has always been true: that God is at home in us.
Suddenly the invisible eternal Word takes on visible form; the Incarnation, on display in flesh and blood! In Him, and now confirmed in us! The most accurate, tangible exhibit of God’s eternal thought finds expression in human life. – John 1:14 (Mirror)
Beloved, can you see it? You were never a problem to solve to God. You have always been His delight. The cross did not change God’s heart toward you; it is present to change our perception of His heart. It restores the image we carry of Him and of ourselves.
The crucifixion was not a transaction to twist God’s arm into forgiving us—it was Love’s self-giving, self-emptying act to reveal that forgiveness and reconciliation were always His posture. The resurrection is proof that not even death can fracture our union.
This is why our identity in Christ is so secure. Because it doesn’t rest on our behavior, but on His eternal embrace as revealed in His behavior!
Identity in Christ: Awakening, Not Achieving
Beloved, identity is not something you construct—it’s something you awaken to. You don’t labor your way into becoming a child of God; you open your eyes and discover you always were.
We are looking into a mirror in which everything is perfectly visible; we are fully known and perfectly understood, even as we are known. – 1 Corinthians 13:12 (Mirror)
This is the miracle: in Jesus, we see the Father, and in Jesus, we see ourselves. Not the false selves stitched together by striving or shame or our masks, but our radiant, original and TRUE design—beloved, complete, chosen.
This is what it means to live in your identity in Christ. It is not a title to wear or a badge to prove; it is the most natural supernatural, transcendent reality of who you already are. You are God-compatible, image-bearer, glory-carrier.
How God’s Love Restores
But what about the broken places? What about the shame, the wounds, the lies that have pressed themselves into our souls?
Here’s the beauty: God’s love restores. Not with force, not with shame, but with tenderness. His love goes into the very fractures of our being and sings us whole.
Think of a fractured bone. As a physician, I saw how the body has an astonishing capacity to heal when given the right support. The fracture doesn’t stay forever; the bone knits back together, often stronger at the site of the break. So it is with the soul. When Papa’s love meets our brokenness, it doesn’t simply patch us up—it transforms us and beautifies us even greater than before!
God as Love restores the image and the likeness of God in us until we shine again with the light we were created to carry.
Scriptural Anchors
Let’s anchor this in some of the breathtaking truths of scripture:
- In Him, the completeness of Deity dwells embodied, and you too are complete in Him. – Colossians 2:9–10 (Mirror)
- God has identified us as His own by placing His Spirit within us as the guarantee of what is to come. – 2 Corinthians 1:22 (NASB)
- See with wide-open eyes: you are God’s poetry, His workmanship, recreated in Christ Jesus. – Ephesians 2:10 (Mirror/AMP blend)
- God is love. Those who are entwined in love are entwined in God, and God is entwined in them. – 1 John 4:16 (Mirror/TPT blend)
Each verse resounds with the same reality: you are included, embraced, complete, and beloved.
Living in Your Identity in Christ
So how do we live this truth instead of simply admiring it from a distance? Here are a few gentle practices:
- Breathe and Belong — Place a hand over your heart, inhale deeply, and whisper: “Abba, I belong to You. I receive Your love.” Do this daily. It rewires the soul.
- Mirror Moments — Ask Holy Spirit to show you how He sees you today. Write it down. Let God’s love restore your self-perception one whisper at a time.
- Scripture Soak — Linger in Colossians 2:10 or Ephesians 2:10. Read it slowly, aloud, until it sings in your bones.
- Release the Hustle — Notice where you’re striving to prove yourself. Pause, and choose to rest instead. Remember: your identity in Christ is already secure.
- Celebrate Your Design — Thank God for one aspect of your being—your creativity, compassion, strength, or tenderness. Let gratitude tune your heart to His delight.
Living Loved
Beloved, this is your inheritance. To live every day as one woven into the embrace of Papa, Son, and Spirit. To know that God’s love and, in particular knowing Him as Love, restores what shame distorted. To walk in the luminous freedom of your identity in Christ. To live as Love’s poetry in the world.
If you want to go deeper in this journey, explore more reflections on identity and belovedness here:
Living From God’s Pleasure: How to Rest in the Truth That You Already Have His Approval
Your Royal Identity in Christ: Living as God’s Beloved Son or Daughter
And if your heart longs for not just information but an encounter with God’s love, come join me at: Pursued by Love: A Live Encounter with the God Who Adores You
https://catherinetoon.com/pursuedbylove/
There’s a place set for you at the table of Love. Come, taste and see.
With delight,
Catherine Toon