“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” Romans 8:16.

Through the physical process of conception, children are the offspring of their parents; simply put we inherit traits from our parents. In 1865 an Augustinian Monk named Gregor Mendel found that individual traits are determined by discrete “factors,” later known as genes, which are inherited from the parents. We have all said it before when fondly looking at a child…she looks just like her dad, or he is identical to his mom. I recall seeing my son in the delivery room, the nurse handed me this beautiful little bundle that surprisingly enough looked just like me…and the words that immediately came from my lips were “he looks just like me!

Just as God orchestrated the process of the physical and natural birth, so it is with our spiritual birth. Galatians 3:36 state “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” We receive the new birth by our profession of faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There are those who make the statement that we are all God’s children… and true enough, we are all God’s creation, every living soul belongs to Him, but we are only adopted as and called His sons when we are born-again to new life. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” John 1:12.

Just as we readily give witness to the traits we see in children; the bible tells us in Romans 8:16 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” We can freely cry “abba, Father,” because the indwelling of the Holy Spirit witnesses with us and through us that we are His beloved children.

The world cannot help but witness to the inherited traits of our Heavenly Father living in His dear children. We are constantly being transformed into the likeness of His beloved Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Galatians 5:22-23 state “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

We must take daily introspection and ask ourselves, are we walking worthy of our calling and allowing the light of God to shine through us- can our walk and life be distinguished from the characteristics of the world… and can others willingly testify that we are the children of Almighty God- or is our lights hid under a bushel? “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” Matthew 5:14.

If someone was to write your life story how would it read? Let us pray for God’s amazing grace to shine in and through us as we travel this journey called life…allowing all to see without any shadow of doubt that we are His beloved children. My friends, we are certainly not perfect…but one day we will be exactly what He has purposed us to be. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.

God blessings of joy and grace be with us all.