This is my Bible | Part 1

Have you ever heard a preacher start a sermon by having the people repeat the following phrase?: "This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do." I would venture to say that it is most famously used by Joel Osteen, but plenty of others have used it as well. Every so often, my church's Youth Pastor will start his message that way. I thought it would be a grand idea to see exactly what the Bible has to say about those things.

In this post, I analyze the first part - I am what it says I am. Many times in our lives (generally speaking) we ask ourselves "who am I?" and can feel overwhelmed and lost by that thought. I know this has been true for me. Sermons, messages, talks with friends, and our own ideas can give us various answers to this question. I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to do this particular study, but I finally decided I needed to go straight to my Creator for the proper answer.

I am

royalty. 1Pe 2:9
provided for. Luke 12:28
blessed. John 20:29
rich. 2 Co. 9:11
made in the image of God. Gen. 1:27
very good. Gen. 1:31
a ruler of all the earth. Gen. 1:26
crowned with glory and majesty. Ps. 8:3-6
redeemed. Eph. 2:1-9
God's workmanship. Eph. 2:10
God's daughter. Rom. 8:14-16
a co-heir with Christ. Rom. 8:17
more than a conqueror. Rom. 8:37
created for God. Col. 1:16
gifted. Rom. 12:6
part of the Body of Christ. 1 Co. 12:27
loved. John 3:16

Any item on this list can certainly be a study in it's own right, and a few of them I know I will have to meditate on and research more for further understanding.

I didn't exactly find these answers by reading along verse by verse, so this is an incomplete study. Please, if you have verses to add, you are more than welcome to leave them as comments.

This is only the starting point of who I am. I am also a traveler, a technology geek, and a thinker. But these parts of me are not defined in scripture. I want to know who I am individually as well as who I am in Christ. I struggle to find words that describe who I am. I believe that knowing who you are is a crucial step in being everything God has made you to be. If you, my readers, can think of a word or two that descibes who I am, I'd appreciate the info. And please, I'd love to hear your thoughts on who you are!