Who Do You Think You Are?
Your identity is a big deal! Some people want to steal your identity and use your resources as if they were their own. Others don’t really want to know who you are; they simply want you to be who they want you to be. The question, however, is whether you know who you are or not.
Your identity cannot be built primarily upon what others think of you. Some people are always looking into the eyes of other people to see whether they meet their approval or not. They have “hungry eyes” that are constantly looking for acceptance. This reveals a tremendous lack of personal identity. It betrays an unhealthy hope that others will establish their identity for them.
On the other hand, some people don’t take others into consideration at all when seeking to understand themselves. They simply declare that they are who they are – whether others receive them or not, or recognize them to be who they are or not. This may sound good, but it may also be a smoke screen for isolation, and a compensation for a lot of rejection. The fact is that our identities are discovered to some degree through community. Others give us feedback, and serve as kinds of mirrors for us to see and understand how we are coming across. Often others help to affirm our strengths, and help us to face areas that we need to change.
It is also important to know that who you are is not completely tied to your behavior. Many times we are so aware of our short comings, failures and sin patterns that we can start to identify ourselves by them. You may be experiencing conviction about things you need to change. That conviction is good – but it doesn’t mean you are defined by your sin. There may be issues that have bound you for a long time, but they need not define you. While our actions are generally an overflow of our heart condition, they are not the complete story. If Christ in fact lives in you, you are a new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
You must realize that how you understand your identity affects everything in your life. Some would translate Proverbs 23:7 to read, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Your self-perception will dictate your life perspective. The enemy wants you to either think too highly or too lowly of yourself. However, neither pride, nor self-degradation is what God has for you. You are God’s workmanship, created to do good works, which God has prepared ahead of time for you to accomplish. (Ephesians 2:10) You are more than a conqueror through God who loves you. (Romans 8:37) And, you are able to love others because God has first loved you. (1 John 4:19) It is vitally important that you see yourself as you in fact are in Christ. Then you will begin to act accordingly.
With you in Christ,
Pastor Tom
tgriffith@rolcboston.org
