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Before You Climb Any HigherSample

Before You Climb Any Higher

DAY 3 OF 5

Remember Who You Are

Getting into the valley mindset means returning to your stable identity as a son or daughter of God.

As you search the Scriptures, God places incredible significance on what it means to be his child. He doesn’t call people “sons” and “daughters” to emphasize our weakness. And he certainly could, for, “The weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25). God doesn’t even harp on our dependence when he calls us his children. Though every Christian knows we truly are to “lean not on [our] own understanding” but rather “in all [our] ways submit to him” (Proverbs 3:5–6).

Instead, “son” or “daughter” indicates derived power and privilege. The moniker is not used to subjugate, but to empower. After John baptized Jesus, the Holy Spirit descended onto Jesus, and immediately afterward, God referred to Jesus as his Son. It was a mark of approval. It was a declaration of imparted strength and status. It was everything a man would want—and Jesus hadn’t performed a single miracle yet. God had publicly declared Jesus’s identity as his Son, and Jesus hadn’t climbed an inch! Significantly, the Word tells us “[there is no] male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:28–29). And what God offers to men in the valley—sonship, power, status, and privilege—is also equally and unequivocally offered to women. The valley is for everyone.

Modern culture will try and make you believe sonship or daughterhood are beneath you. As if these positions of weakness should expire when you turn eighteen years old. But God holds them as statures of honor, privilege, progress, and might. Being a son or daughter is more than an ancestral name; it is your divine identity.

Don’t let the glorious mountain fool you. The highest position you will ever hold is as a child of God. The grounding we gain in him is more significant than anything we could ever reach for. The highest place you can ever be is in the valley with him.

Lord, I am thankful that You use time in the valley to remind me that I belong to You as your precious, dearly loved child—forgiven, set free, and secure in Your love. Amen.

Day 2Day 4

About this Plan

Before You Climb Any Higher

If we’re not careful, a “mountain mindset”—climbing nonstop toward achievement and accolades—can choke the joy, rest, and reward out of life. Let’s spend a few days looking at the dangers of striving toward the heights and the benefits of pausing to develop a “valley mindset,” which leads us to places of renewal, rejuvenation, and remembering who we are as a son or daughter of the Living God.

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