“For I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right hands and says to you, ‘do not fear, I will help you.'” Isaiah 41:13

What I do defines who I am. The choices I make define my value – for better or for worse.

Are those things true? There are countless times in my life where I believed that what I did defined who I am. One poignant example occurred when I was 14 years old. I had been vaulting with the Warm Beach Vaulters for several years and had a strong drive to succeed. With passion and hard work, I made my way onto the highest-level team within the entire club (in vaulting one can vault as an individual, in a pair, or as a team of six). How well I vaulted determined how I felt – if I did well, I was happy, and if I did poorly, I would feel like a failure.

At practice one day, I did a dismount at the canter, landed incorrectly, and significantly injured my knee. One month later I had surgery, and it would be almost a full year before I vaulted again. In the month leading up to the surgery I asked myself a startling question, “What will you put your worth in now? Because it can’t be vaulting.” I recognized that this was the time for me to decide whether I would take God at His word. Would I choose to believe that He would always be with me? That my value comes from my identity in Him?

I couldn’t think of one thing that would outlast God – not family, friends, approval from others, school grades, or my ability to participate in sports. I went and read God’s word (i.e. the Bible) and saw that I am accepted (Romans 15:7), never alone (Romans 8:38-30), seen as perfect in His eyes (Hebrews,10:14), created to do beautiful things (Ephesians 2:10), and am eternally loved (Romans 8:38-30) because of who He is. I read those things about me – the things that God says define me and my value – would never ever change, because God never stops loving me.

Almost all of us have, or will have, a moment where we get confronted with either, “[Fill in the blank] did not happen like I thought it did, so now how do I prove myself?” or, “[fill in the blank] did happen, and what is the next thing I need to do in order to prove myself?” I learned that the one decision that truly matters is deciding whether to believe what God says about you or the world around you. Who, or what, will you let define your worth?

Come explore more about your faith and identity in Christ in one of the faith-based riding lessons here at Warm Beach Camp. For more information visit Warm Beach Horsemanship Riding Lessons.

-Shelby Jones
Warm Beach Horsemanship Team Member