KNOWING WHO YOU ARE = KNOWING WHO HE IS

Today I have a question for you. Who do you say Jesus is? Now, I would like to ask, who do you say you are? We often identify as a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a student, a friend, or sometimes whatever our job title may be. Those are all fine. But don’t base your entire identity on that. Don’t make the mistake I did, basing my entire identity on being a wife and a mother for many years. Because I fell apart when I felt that being a mother had ended for me. It was my entire life, consuming my every single thought, action and decisions I made for 38 years. I couldn’t see who I was beyond that. I even thought that was all I was in Christ and that He was now finished with me as well. I felt I had nothing left to do, dream, desire or plan for. So don’t make your identity solely about you. Make it about Jesus Christ, and who He says that you are. Because seasons of your life will change, that is inevitable. Grow in Him through every season of your life. There is nothing wrong with focusing on your husband, your kids or your job. But don’t make that your be all and your end all.

Sometimes we focus more on who the world says that we should be. The world tends to tell us that we need to be more busy in order to be more successful. We also may look at others’ lives, especially the perfect lives that are portrayed on social media, that make us feel we must keep working harder to achieve the lives that others appear to have. Well, not to be rude, but it’s not about you and who you think you are. Or about the World and who it says you are. It’s about God and who He says you are. So we are going to look at KNOWING WHO YOU ARE =KNOWING WHO HE IS

When we don’t truly believe that we are who God says that we are, we are opening ourselves up and making room for Satan to creep into our minds and attack us in this area of how we view ourselves. Satan will slowly creep in and beat us down, and at times, cripple us with fear from moving forward for Christ. Maybe making us think that we are too insignificant and there is no good we can do for Christ. Sometimes making us want to just stay invisible in our own little box that is our world right now. Staying boxed in with no room for growth and development. We should never stop having a desire to grow more, or even feel so prideful that we may believe we have grown to our full capacity. I used to allow my age to stunt my growth and feel I had nothing left to offer. But God told me otherwise, and He has dealt with me concerning that.

So ask God who you are:

(But first, you must know and trust Jesus as your personal Savior before you can fully know and trust who He says you are in Him. Make sure you are one of His. It is simply trusting in Him as your Savior. Believing He is who he says He is, and allowing Him to be your Savior. You don’t have to earn salvation. There is nothing you could possibly do to earn it. You simply just have to accept it from Jesus Christ alone.)

Let us go back to the Bible where Jesus says, ”Who do you say I am?” You have to know who He is personally- not just knowing who everyone else says that He is.

Let us read in Matthew 16:13-18

When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Once Peter knew who Jesus was- God showed Peter who he was through Jesus. So Peter no longer had to be who the world said he was. He knew who he was in Jesus Christ! And that by being who Jesus said he was, he knew that hell could not prevail against him.

Christ’s goal is to have a relationship with you. Not just a one way relationship, but a back and forth relationship. So try your best to get to know Him as well as He knows you. We are surrounded by who the World says that we are. (be all you can be- you do you- believe in yourself- just do it you have earned it- be your best self – live your best life) These notions are based off of your failures and successes or your emotions, pride or humility. When none of that matters to God! Jesus tells us right here in scriptures that the gates of hell will NOT prevail against who you are in Christ! The world would love nothing more than to see you fall on your face! So why do we anchor our identity to the lies the world throws at us? We need to anchor our identity in the Truth of Christ! Where not even hell can prevail against it! Because who you believe you are is going to impact what you do. So if you believe you are less than who Christ says you are, you will never live the more abundant life that the Bible promises us in John 10:10

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Not abundant life in the form of success or wealth. But in a more peaceful life in Christ. He is not promising us that no bad will come. Bad will come. What God is promising us here is a life in that we have someone to comfort us and give us peace during those times. And yes, maybe at times a more successful happy life. But no one is guaranteed not to have sorrows, pain, loss or troubles in this life. The more abundant life that Christ wants to give us is a promise that when we do have troubles, He is willing to pick us up and help us walk through those troubles together. We never have to be alone no matter how lonely our emotions may make us feel. He promises us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Don’t be less than Who Christ says that you are! Any life outside of that is less, not more!

A few questions we could ask ourselves are:

Who do you see yourself as?
What are some ways that you may deal with your insecurities?
There are also times we may feel we are enough, and try and handle things on our own.
What are some of those things you may feel you can do on your own without going to Him first?
When you do finally give in and allow Him to help you, how much more at peace do you feel in that situation?

So remember , let us live more abundantly, not less, by allowing more of him and less of us! We need to get to know the character of God. Then we may be able to understand who we truly are. How do we get to know the character of God? By reading the Book that He has written for us. His character is seen all throughout the Bible. We need to sit down and spend some time with that book. Reading all about the Love that God has for us, and the promises that He has made to us. When we can begin to understand just how much God loves us, maybe then we can begin to love ourselves enough to strive to be just who He says that we are in Him.

Ask yourself, What are God’s expectations of me? He refers to us as His children!! He knows we will fail. He expects us to trust Him , listen to Him, and allow Him to help us. When we do fall short of that He only expects us to reach out to him and ask His forgiveness, allowing Him to put us back on path.

So remember, the best way to Know Who We are =Knowing Who He is First!