“Then he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.’” Luke 8:48 (NIV)

I was bullied growing up.

From the first day at a new school until the day I left three years later, I was teased constantly. Everything about me was fair game: The way I talked, my anatomy, and the size of my nose made me the brunt of classroom jokes by boys and girls alike. For a burgeoning, insecure preteen in a single-parent household, this laid the foundation for the perfect storm of self-doubt in my adolescence.

My mother did the best she could to encourage me, but the lies of my classmates were louder than her voice and only seemed to magnify the absence of the words I longed to hear my father say. I had no idea their words would stay with me well into adulthood.

Depending on what is said, who says it and when they say it, we can find ourselves believing a lie about who we are for a lifetime. One account in Scripture speaks of a woman who others labeled and defined by her condition: She was known as the woman with an issue of blood.

Her medical state became her identity. No longer was she seen as a human being with thoughts, emotions, and a need to be loved. This woman would have been ostracized and possibly judged and criticized. I imagine town gossips may have talked about her behind her back. She was isolated from others because hemorrhaging women — and anyone or anything they touched — were considered unclean. She likely experienced loneliness, fear and shame.

This woman endured her condition for 12 years. Mark 5:26 says she “suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse” (NIV). But in spite of her condition, she had enough faith to believe that if she could touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, she could be made well.

This woman had resilient hope, and it paid off. Immediately after she touched Jesus’ cloak, her bleeding stopped, and she was freed from her suffering. I’m struck by Jesus’ response at that moment. In Luke 8:45a, He asked, “Who touched me?” (NIV).

An omniscient Savior asked a question of finite people. It wasn’t because He was unsure whose hands grasped the edge of His outer garment. He knows everything. Jesus knew the exact moment the woman’s fingers touched His tunic and caused power to leave His body. I believe Jesus asked the question for the benefit of the labeled woman.

He knew she had spent more than a decade in the shadows of society. He knew she was weighed down by her condition. He knew she needed to be publicly redefined. And so He persisted: “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me” (Luke 8:46, NIV).

Jesus left the unnamed woman no choice — she had to make her presence known. She fell at the feet of Jesus in the presence of the crowd. Jesus could have chastised her for touching Him. He could have publicly condemned her actions, but instead, He patiently listened to her. Then He said, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace” (Luke 8:48).

Jesus not only declared her healed; He called her “daughter.” He didn’t say “unnamed woman” or “woman with an issue of blood” … He selected an intimate and tender term.

For 12 years this unnamed woman was an outcast in society. No one would have wanted to be near her, yet Jesus publicly acknowledged that she touched Him; then He applauded her faith and called her “daughter.” With that single act, He said, “You are not alone. You are not isolated. You are not a label. You are a daughter of God.”

When we place our faith in Jesus, we, too, become daughters of God. It doesn’t matter if we were previously considered outcasts or lived underneath a label placed on us by humanity. Embracing our identity as daughters of God far outweighs any identity that has been or will ever be placed on us. In Him, we are fully loved and redefined. He is our heavenly Father; what He says about us matters most.

Dear God, thank You for redefining me as Your daughter. Help me choose to live based on who You say I am. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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The wounds of a father deeply impact a woman’s heart. If you have experienced hurt and rejection from your earthly father, you can still know God’s all-sufficient grace and healing. To begin your healing journey, purchase Kia Stephens’ new book, Overcoming Father Wounds: Exchanging Your Pain for God’s Perfect Love!

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FOR DEEPER STUDY

2 Corinthians 6:18, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (NIV).

What label do you need to shed today? How does knowing you are redefined as a daughter of God encourage you? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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