Day 5 | People of God – Definition

Read 2 Corinthians 6

What roles define you? Are you a parent? Artist? Sibling? Restaurant worker? Dog owner? Think about all the roles you fill that characterize who you are. Have you thought of a few? Now think about the role that surpasses all of these: God’s child. One of our most incredible yet humbling roles as the Church is being the people of God. When we choose to follow Jesus, God adopts us into His family, and we become His people. As the people of God, we represent Him to those around us. When we follow Jesus, our purpose becomes God and nothing else.

In today’s passage, Paul referenced Leviticus 26:12 when he wrote, “I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16). As the Church, we are God’s people—His chosen people. We are also His children, as seen in verse 18, which says, “you will be sons and daughters to me.” Just as a person adopts a child and the child becomes their own, God adopts us when we choose Him as Lord of our lives and we become His. Our earthly roles—mom, cousin, friend—are parts of our identity, but as people of God, our identity is rooted and built on God, our adoptive Father.

Peter speaks to this as well. In 1 Peter 2:9–10, he wrote, “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people.” Of course, we have a choice. We must choose God, and when we do, He also chooses us and calls us His people.

Pray God will help you embrace your role as a son or daughter of God.