God’s Kids

Romans · Romans 8 · August 23, 2026

Feel like a failure? That’s not who God says you are.

Jesus said, “If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11). Anyone who has held their own child for the first time gets a small glimpse of how much God loves us. Scripture says we are God’s children, but what does that really mean, and how do we start living like it?

Romans 7 ended with Paul’s cry, “Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” and the answer: “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:24–25). Our circumstances, other people and especially our own thoughts will keep shouting that we’re failures, hypocrites and posers. Romans 8 answers with the truth about who we are and who we are not.

Who I am not

I am not condemned. “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Condemnation was a legal sentence of death, and Jesus took it for us. “Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us” (8:34).

I am not defeated. “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). That doesn’t mean we’ll never face hard days. But “though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again” (Proverbs 24:16).

I am not alone. One of the enemy’s greatest tactics is isolation. But “the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness” and prays for us when we don’t know what to pray (Romans 8:26). “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” (8:31). “He will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:8).

Who I am: God’s kid

“All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God… you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:14–15). Abba is a term of endearment, like “Daddy.” And as His children, we are His heirs (8:17). When you’re born again, you become “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The problem is we keep looking back at our old condition instead of walking in our new position. We aren’t defeated people trying to win; we’re already victorious. We aren’t sinners trying to earn salvation; we’re already saved, accepted and loved. Three truths to say out loud:

1. I’m God’s kid, and He loves me. Nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

2. I’m God’s kid, and He saved me. “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith… it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

3. I’m God’s kid, and He works for me. “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Scripture references

Romans 8 · Matthew 7:7–11 · Romans 7:13, 24–25 · Romans 8:1–2 · Romans 8:31–39 · Psalm 34:22 · Proverbs 24:16 · Romans 8:26–27 · Deuteronomy 31:8 · Romans 8:14–17 · John 1:12–13 · John 3:3 · 2 Corinthians 5:17 · Romans 8:9–11 · Ephesians 2:8–9 · Romans 8:28

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