I Identify as a Child of the Living God

Someone told me not that long ago that they wished that I was not who I am and that they were not the only one who felt that way. I have paused and thought much about who I am, if I should change to make someone else happy and if I, too wished that and wanted to change. The outcome is a great big NO!! I unashamedly identify as a child of the living God! This is who I am and am so grateful for the cost Jesus paid in order for me to claim that title. I have been adopted into the family of God and proudly carry His name. It is my prayer that I represent Him well; I am thankful for God’s grace, His Spirit and His Word that help me do that and get me back on track when I do mess up.

Often people say that a Christian thinks that they are better than others when they want to live righteously for God. That is not the case with me; I do not think that I am better than anyone else. I know that it is by God’s grace that I am saved from His wrath to come, that I am a new creation and that I am able to live a life pleasing to Him. This same grace is waiting for anyone who is willing to repent, die to self and the things of this world and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I will love, respect, and not look down on you for who you choose to be and hope you will do the same to me.

The following is a declaration agreeing with God and His Word of who I am, what happened to me and what is expected of me as His child:

Declaration of Who I am in Christ

• I know that you fashioned me in my mother’s womb for a specific purpose. I give my life to you to be used for the very purpose you created me for. (Psalm 139:13-18)
• I may have been rejected by men, but I have been chosen by God. I am part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people who have been called out of darkness and brought into God’s MARVELLOUS LIGHT to be His people and obtain His mercy. (1 Peter 2:4, 9-10)
• I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. (Romans 1:16)
• I am not here to condemn or judge the world, but to share about a savior, Jesus Christ, who came to save those who are already condemned from the judgment to come. People will not answer to me when they die; they will answer to God. Whoever believes on Him will not perish but will have everlasting life. (John 3:16-18; Hebrews 9:27)
• My citizenship is not here on this earth; my citizenship is in heaven. (Ephesians 2:19)
• I am an ambassador for Christ. I am here on earth to represent Him until I take my last breath and He takes me home to live with Him forever! (2 Corinthians 5:20)
• I am here so people can hear the gospel and believe on the ONLY one who can save their soul, Jesus Christ! How will they hear and believe unless someone tells them. I commit to be one who will tell them! (John 14:6; Romans 10:13-15)
• I am a new creation! My old life is gone; my life and purpose are to share Jesus with others and to live a life that will bring honor and glory to His name. I do not do the things I used to but have chosen to live a pure and holy life by the help and power of the Holy Spirit and God’s grace that has been so graciously bestowed upon me. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• People may make fun of me and no longer want to be around me because I want my life to glorify God, but I will continue on sharing with others about God’s amazing, saving grace that is waiting for them upon their repentance. (1 Peter 4:12-14)
• And like Abraham who believed by faith that God would perform what God had promised, I, too believe by faith that God will do what He promised (save me from God’s wrath and allow me to live forever in His perfect eternal kingdom, Revelation 20-22). Because I believe this by faith, like Abraham, it has been imputed to me for righteousness. I desire for God’s righteousness to flow through every part of my being in the same way that DNA is the blueprint of who I am physically. Just like I cannot change who I am physically no matter how hard I try, I cannot change who I now am in Christ. (Romans 4:20-25)

Romans 6:2-23

• How can I, who is dead to sin, live any longer in it? (V2)
• Having been baptized into Jesus Christ, I have been baptized into His death! (V3)
• Having been buried with Christ into the death of myself, my life has been raised to walk in a new life and like Christ is to always bring honor and glory to the Father. (V4-5)
• The old me (bearing fruit and consequences of unrighteousness) has been crucified and I NO longer serve my lustful desires or live for things of this world! (V6)
• I have been SET FREE from being a vessel that brings about death and destruction!! (V7)
• I believe that because I have died to self and the things of this world, I am NOW able to live in and with Christ doing the Father’s will and bringing glory to His name. (V8)
• Christ died ONCE to sin and now lives! Likewise, I have chosen once and for all to die to self and now choose to live forever for God here on earth until I get to live forever with Him in heaven. (V9-11)
• I will not allow sin to rule my life any longer to be a tool in Satan’s hand; instead, I will allow God to rule my life so I can be a tool in His hand to be used to bring others into a saving knowledge of Him so they, too can be set free from the control of sin. (V12-14)
• I am so thankful that I am no longer under the law that showed me that I was hopeless, condemned and separated from God. Now that I am under grace, I want to yield my life and be obedient to God so my obedience can lead others to live a righteous life unto God. I NO LONGER want to yield my life to anything that brings about the death of relationships and destruction of others. (V15-16)
• I am so thankful that I obeyed from the heart the gospel of Jesus Christ which delivered me from the bondage of my sins that had a hold on me and was destroying me. (V17)
• Being set free from sin, I became the servant of righteousness!! (V18)
• When my life was a servant of unrighteousness, I produced and encouraged unrighteousness in other people’s lives which produced further unrighteousness. Now that I am a servant to righteousness, my life is being used to encourage others to come to a saving knowledge of God which produces righteousness in their lives which produces righteousness in more and more people. (V19)
• When I was a servant to sin, I was free from having to do what was righteous and right in the sight of God. (V20)
• Now, knowing what the actions of my past produced, I am not proud, but ashamed that I was part of the unrighteousness in this world and was a part of leading others into sinful behaviors. (V21)
• I am so thankful that God set me free from using my life in that way. His grace has set me free from that shame and now has allowed my life to produce what is good and right in the sight of God making this world a better place. (V22)
• There is a cost for sin and that cost is death, I am so thankful that Jesus paid that cost for me and has given me the gift of eternal life. It is my prayer that I use that gift wisely to bring honor and glory to the Father and share the gift of salvation with others so they can be set free from being instruments of unrighteousness and become instruments of righteousness. (V23)

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

I, Linda Joyce Svacha, declare the above on September 28, 2022