Who are you?

There are some deep questions in life worth pondering. One of the most important questions is “Who are you?”. How you answer that question profoundly affects both how you choose to live your life, and it how and where you will spend eternity.

What defines who you are?

If someone walked up to you right now and asked “Who are you?”  how would you answer? The short answer comes quickly.  ex: Hi I’m John, I’m a retired Aeospace engineer based in Florida and we are traveling in this RV during summers. The deeper answer is more complicated and is more revealing.

Most people build a story line in their head using elements from a historic timeline? Who are your parents? Where did they come from? What was your childhood like? Where did you live? What was your family like? Was there a lot of love? Where did you go to school?  What did you do well at? What were your struggles? How do you spend your time? What do you enjoy doing? How do you make money? How do you choose to spend your money?  What kind of relationships do you have? What did you inherit from your parents? What will you give to your kids?

Along with this historical timeline, they also build a self-image based on how they believe others view them:  Pretty/Handsome or plain/homely, Smart or dumb, Fit or fat, Coordinated or awkward, Hardworking or lazy, Capable or useless, Successful or unsuccessful, Worthy or worthless, Victor or Victim.

This story line of “who you are” shapes your outlook on life and has a great influence on how you approach things.  If you view yourself as worthless or a victim, it will be unlikely you will ever recognize an opportunity in front of you, take the initiative to pursue it,  and rise above whatever obstacle you are currently facing.

So far, we have focused on the physical and mental aspects of your story line, lets add the spiritual.  How do you view your spiritual self? Do you accept there is a higher authority? What will happen when you die? Do you have a soul that might live on if you say or do the right things?  Will your life be judged? How will you make out with that? Where will you spend eternity? Given that. .how should I spend my remaining time in this life? 

How you view yourself spiritually has a great influence on how you live your life and what choices you make.  Just recognizing a couple of spiritual aspects could shift the behavior of an entire society: 1) God is everywhere and knows everything, and 2) You will pay the price in judgement for whatever you say or do in this life.  That is the threat/punitive side,  but there is also the promise/incentive side: God is love, He loves you, He wants you to prosper, and He will help you if you let Him.

You must invest some time and energy if you want to develop the spiritual aspects of life as they cannot be discerned through observation in the world. Spiritual laws are counter intuitive, they work the opposite of physical laws.  The physical world teaches you to take to get ahead, the spirit world teaches you to give;  the physical world teaches you live until you die, the spirit world teaches you to die so you can live.

You are composed of mind, body and spirit. If you define yourself only in physical / earthly terms,  I  encourage you to spend some time on the spiritual side, it will change the course of your life, now and for eternity.

If you already include a spiritual aspect in your self-image, I encourage you to explore the following extension or evolution:   

• God loves you unconditionally
  • “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
• When you invite Him as your lord and savior, You are born again.
  • “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• You are now a child of God, HE is your father.
  • “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12)
• Everything from your past is wiped away, you are free from it.
  • “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” (Romans 6:6)
• He helps you transform, from being self-centered to becoming love in action like him.
  • “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…”(Romans 12:3)
  • “To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)
  • “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” (Philippians 2:3)
• You are part of the body of Christ…He is the Head, You are his “arms and legs”.
  • “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.”(1 Corinthians 12:27)
• He wants you to: be like him, Think like Him, and Act like him
  • “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)
  • “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:29)
  • The Holy Spirit is in us and teaches us ” ..we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)
• He wants you to continue His work
  • “Jesus said… As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” (John 20:21)
  • “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. (John 14-12)

Why is this important? Why should you care? It is all about perspective, and faith.  If you view yourself as anything less than a child of God, striving to be Christ-like in thought and actions, forgiven of sins, and standing righteous In front of the father,  you will be vulnerable to attack in this world.  The things people say about you will matter more than God’s love for you, The things that happen day to day will matter more than your purpose for being on this earth…to become love in action.    

In a prior blog post i described the power of positive confirmtion, where you turn your understanding and beliefs into a positive statement of declaration. It is a very effective approavh to building confidence and growing your faith into actions. 

So if you have a spiritual identity and believe the scriptual statements above, consider the following answer to the question of who you are – it can be powerful and liberating

• I am a born-again son of God,
• I am not be defined by things of this earth,
• I am defined by my creator, my heavenly father, who loves me deeply.
• He loves me so much he sent His son to Die for me.
• He created me for a reason, and He has never given up on me
• He forgives my past so I can focus on going forward
• I have the Holy Spirit inside me, guiding me, and helping me transform
• I am a member of the body of Christ – his arms and legs on this earth
• As the Father sent Him, He sends Me, I will do His work.
• My father is pure love, I feel His love in me
• I am His love in action, His love flows through me into every situation.
• I view others as He views them – as his children needing love
• My inheritance is the kingdom of God and I am proud member

My favorite speaker on this topic is Dan Mohler.  Here is a video where he explores the topic of Your Identity

I hope you find this discussion helpful. Leave me a comment.