Adrian and I had been talking for a while about getting married, but we hadn’t set a date. I certainly couldn’t start planning the wedding because I was still waiting for something: a ring. Once that simple white-gold band with three small diamonds was slipped onto my finger, I knew things would never be the same. After Adrian gave me that ring, we walked up the driveway to see his family. I felt butterflies in my stomach as I saw their faces peeking through the window and realized everyone was ready to think of me differently.


In the same way a simple band on our finger changes our identity and gives us something to look forward to, God gives us the Holy Spirit as the seal of our salvation, “the guarantee” (or down payment) “of our inheritance.” It’s the Spirit that tells us we really are children of God, our identity really has been changed, and we really do have something magnificent to look forward to. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are
God’s children.”