This Is Who I Am

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father but through me.”  John 14:6

I enjoy running each morning.  It does not matter the weather or time of year, I will be running in the early morning light.  It is just who I am.  It is my prayer time and quiet time with God.  I also enjoy visiting with people.  I schedule my week of counseling and then on the days I do not counsel, I make plans to visit someone and share conversation and sometimes a meal together.  That is just who I am and who I believe God calls me to be.  So, if you want me to visit with you, just let me know!!!

Also, when I go different places, I usually see someone I know.  It seems so random, but I just call it a “God Appointment.”  For example, recently I went to an ice cream shop in a town to share a meal with family and a young lady whom I officiated at her wedding came into that same shop with her daughters.  My friend said, “This happens all the time.  That is just who she is.”  It is true I can go to a fair, a store, or museum and find someone I have known from the past.  It is just who I am.

Sometimes we use the phrase, “That’s just who I am” to defend the rough edges of our personality.  We may have inherited our temper, control, or anger from a parent.  We did not like it in them, and now we find it in ourselves.  Or we believe God just created us as an anxious person instead of seeing ourselves as having anxious feelings.  Many qualities are learned behaviors acquired from our environment and the people who have been an influence.  Once we are aware of their negative impact on our lives and the lives of those around us, we can begin to change who we are to align with how God created us to live in relationship with one another.

So, do you like who you are now?  I had a conversation with a friend whose husband died recently.  Her focus in life had been caring for her husband and children.  She had not been alone for many years.  Now she is alone and trying to figure out who she is now.  Nobody else to define her.  It is now up to her.  Many times our roles and responsibilities define us, or we allow others to tell us who we are.  After a loss, we have to redefine who we are and figure out our new role in life.

Through my journey, I have come to like who I am now.  I am far from perfect, but I continue to live into who God created me to be.  I am accepting my uniqueness and my quirks.  I have certain routines and ways of doing things.  I desire my environment to be clean, neat, uncluttered, and simple.  I know what I like to eat.  I could eat salad every day and ice cream.  I like who I am physically.  I like that I can enjoy adventures and have the ability to travel.  I am content with the life God is giving me now. 

But who am I in regard to my inward self?  Who am I in my spirit?  Our spirit is what truly defines us – what is inside our heart – our essence – our true being.  Who am I in the eyes of God?  It is this part of us that is eternal and lives forever in Heaven.

Jesus knew who He was – the Son of God, the Messiah, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Jesus knows who He is in relationship to humanity – “I am the resurrection and the life.”  “I am the Good Shepherd.”  “I am the Bread of Life.”  “I am the Light of the world.”  Not the world nor any religious leader defined Jesus.  Only God the Father defined Jesus.

We know who we are through God.  We are His children.  We are loved and forgiven.  God knows us by name.  God created us.  God is with us and holds our hand.  When we know who we are in Jesus, that is all that really matters.

I am no longer allowing others to define me, and I am not focused on pleasing others.  My focus is to glorify God.  It is sharing with God my thoughts and feelings.  Releasing to God my fears, anxieties, and troubles.  It is allowing God to put into my life and on my path whom He wants me to interact.  I trust God.  When you know whose you are – a child of God – then who you are in Jesus is all that really matters.  Start living in the freedom of being a child of God.  You are loved and forgiven.  The past is complete.  Live into who God says you are!