All who follow Jesus belong to God as his special people, even though they may be scattered throughout the world's population. The identity of a Christian is not based on his race, national origin, or address, but on being sanctified by the Spirit and cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

God has a plan and a purpose for all those who choose to believe in Jesus. Ephesians 1:4 says that God chose us in Christ "to be holy and blameless in his sight." His purpose for Christians is that we be a distinct and godly people in an ungodly world.

God's people have a living hope, even though sometimes we feel like dead meat. The blessings of belonging to God far outweigh the temporary hardships we have in this life. In fact, these hardships help prepare us for the inheritance that our Father has in store for his children.

The inheritance God has for us is guaranteed. We will hear no surprises when the will is read. We are assured that the investments won't go sour, and we can know that what has been stored up for us will not have crumbled into dust.

The hardships we endure are not without purpose. They come so that our faith will be refined and purified just as gold ore is refined in the crucible. Gold, which is refined by fire, is considered valuable even though it will perish one day. How much more valuable is our faith in God's inheritance--and therefore how much more important it is that our faith be refined by fire. Our goal is not simply to be able to survive through difficulty, but to be able to give praise and honor to Jesus when he is revealed.

Christians do not need to have an identity crisis. We can know who we are, why we are here, where we are headed, and what everything in our lives means--even the suffering we may have to endure for what is actually just a short time. We have to keep things in perspective: if the hardships seem unending now, just think how wonderful unending eternity will be!