“Just remember to be yourself, “he said with a full mouth of burrito. He eagerly brought the straw from his drink to his mouth and sipped in much too tart lemonade. He grimaced at the taste. “I mean yeah, just be yourself and not who you’re family or anyone else wants you to be.”
I chewed on my own bite of burrito in silence, shaking my head in agreement, but all the while thinking, that sounds good, but who am I?
Have you ever asked yourself that question?
Who am I?
Surely I’m not the only one.
I’m guessing we’ve all faced a moment in time when we were sitting alone on the couch, or driving into work, or even talking to someone on the phone; no matter the scenario we’ve all faced a moment in time when we’ve questioned who we are.
Of course there are things that I do know about myself.
My name is, Jeremy Walker. I am father of Hannah and Maggie, son of Steve and Diana, brother to Lyndi, Uncle to Mady and Walker. I have a job that I’ve worked at for 8 years, I have friends, I go to church, I play guitar, I write blog posts, and I can cook spaghetti pretty well. All these things are definitely “me” but yet I still find myself sometimes asking, who am I?
Then there are ways the world may see me…or you. And the people of this world usually will always have things to say to let you know who they think you are…or who I am.
Talented, weird, honest, fat, good parent, liar, wise, anorexic, faithful, adulterer, strong, weak, devoted, unreliable, passionate, lazy, handsome, ugly, rich, tight wad, spiritual, you will never change, articulate, back-stabber, inspiring, unethical, hard worker, no good, muscled up, skin and bone, Christian, pacifist.
When you look at the big picture…whether it’s how we see ourselves or how the world sees us…or even if we or they, are right or wrong…we should never run out of words and ways to describe just exactly who we are, right?
Who am I?
So why does that question still linger in our thoughts at times? Why can’t we just stay constantly secure in who we think we are? Maybe it’s because we’re looking in the wrong place for our definition.
Who am I? Who are you?
Look at what Paul says in Ephesians 1:11-12, “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, He had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone.” (the message)
Can you see where maybe we’ve messed up in the past and looked in the wrong place? It’s not in us or from the world that we find out who we are…”It’s in Christ that we find out who we are…”
So what does that mean? How do we approach Christ to find out who we are?
I think we have to accept WHO Christ is.
Remember in Matthew 16 when Jesus asked the Disciples, “Who do people say I am?” Or in other words, “who does the world say I am?”
The Disciples answered, “John the Baptist, some say Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.”
Then Jesus asked Peter, “And you? Who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Anointed One. You are the Son of the living God.”
And right there brothers and sisters is the thing we must accept and realize…it’s that Christ is the Son of God and it’s THROUGH Him (the Son of God) that we find out who we are! You see, when it comes down to it, it’s not about us or the world and the terms we come up with to define ourselves.
Listen, it’s not even about who we are. It’s about WHOSE we are.
“Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us – He calls us children of God! It’s true; we are His beloved children.” –1 John 3:1 (the message)
So who am I?
Simple…I am Christ’s.
Let that sink in…really. Let that reality cover you and bless you.
Who are we?
We are Christ’s.
The One who said, “The Father loves Me because I sacrifice My life so I may take it back again. No one can take My life from Me. I sacrifice it voluntarily.” –John 10:17-18 (the message)
Yes, we are HIS…the one and only true God. We must all mean so much to Him that He would sacrifice His life for us.
We are far more than the names we give ourselves and we are definitely more than the names and thoughts the world might have for us.
Trust…believe.
Look at yourself in the mirror and ask, who am I?
Take joy in your response when you say, I am Christ’s.
