Who are you? So often I have felt like Alice when the caterpillar asked her that question in Wonderland. Her response was something to the effect of “I don’t rightly know. I thought I knew who I was this morning, but now I’m not really sure. You see, so many peculiar things have happened to me.” Have you ever had that same feeling? Over the course of my life I’ve been Lil’s daughter, Tim’s sister, Marty’s mom, and Bradley’s wife – all roles that spurred very different behaviors. I’ve behaved as “student’, “teacher”, “partier”, and “Christian” depending on the company I was with.
By nature, I had always identified myself according to the group that I was with. When I was surrounded by my friends, I was “party girl”, but when I was in other settings I was “responsible teacher” or “church going girl”. Each role I held led to very different actions and attitudes on my part. That led to a lot of splintering in who I was, because I was basing my identity on my current set of circumstances. Essentially I constantly recreated who I was to make people think I was who they wanted me to be.
That is a particularly problematic approach to life. I was spending so much time trying to be the person that the people around me expected, that I lost track of, or rather, never found, who I really was. I bounced from one code of ethics to the next, justifying it all under the umbrella of needing to fit in; it was a “when in Rome, do as the Romans” mentality. It left me exhausted and without direction or a “true North”. I didn’t rely on any one set of standards to determine what was right or wrong, or to guide my decisions and behaviors.
As my walk toward and with Christ developed, I saw how very wrong that was and how I hurt the One who gave everything for me. God sent His Son to earth from heaven to pay for all those times that I chose to live by any standard other than His own. Every time that I chose to put a label on myself that didn’t read “Child of God” it was putting another lash across His perfect back. I have spent the majority of my life living with the wrong answer to the question, “Who are you?”
As Christians, our first and most sincere response to that question should be, “I am a child of God.” That identification should permeate our being to the point that others can consistently see it. We shouldn’t feel like Alice in Wonderland unsure of just who we are right now. Regardless of the role we are in or the activities we enjoy, our identification should always be based on who we are in Christ. That can only be found by developing a deep and intimate relationship with Him.
Now I ask you, “Who are you?” Who are you willing to identify yourself as regardless of what is happening? Regardless of who you are around? Regardless of what it may cost you in social standing? Who are you?
Matthew 10:33
But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.