God often uses different means to give us this sense of adoption. The Bible calls it the witness of the Spirit, whereby ‘the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God’ (Rom 8:14-17). He does it through the Scriptures; he does it through the acceptance of the Christian community. For me, it came through the fact that God had given me gifts. I was a very nervous person who never liked to talk in public, I wouldn’t open my mouth. When I thought I was going to be a preacher, I dared not tell anyone because I thought they’d laugh. ‘How can this fellow, who doesn’t know how to open his mouth, ever preach?’ But God gave me the desire to preach so I started writing sermons secretly. I live near the sea so, at night, I would go to the beach and, when there was no-one around, sit on the rocks and preach. Through this gift that God gave me, I began to realise that I am significant, I am important to him. I felt like a child.
From: The Fullness of Christ – Ephesians by Ajith Fernando page 52
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