Who am I? Am I good? Am I bad? Can
I be pleasing to God? When asking these questions, have you ever thought about
what the usual criterions are that we use to determine who we are?
Whenever determining who we are,
sometimes we base our judgment off words from the past. Some might have come
from pasts where different relationships have psychologically determined their
fate by harshness. Maybe you are the one whose spouse has conveyed their hatred
of you. Maybe you are the one whose parents have displayed their shame of you.
Whatever the case, many individuals seem to be steered by what is or is not
expected of them as a person. If we’re not careful, who we are can be
determined by what is ingrained in us.
Whenever determining who we are,
sometimes we base our judgment off sins in the past. You know the sin I’m
talking about - the one that immediately comes to mind while reading this. We
know that all sin (Romans 3:23), but sometimes we feel that we have really sinned…that sin that makes us
feel filthy, and horrible. Yes, sometimes we look at those awful sins in our
past and if we’re not careful, who we are will be determined by these past
sins.
It seems we live in a world that is
very superstitious. No, you do not need
to believe in witches and ghosts to be superstitious. Sometimes I think we humans
base everything on chance: sometimes the
cards are dealt in your favor, but usually, they’re not. The problem with
us humans is that we too readily allow experiences to govern our lives. When
we’re told who we need to be through abuse and harsh words, we willingly
follow. When we give into temptation and really mess up here and there, then we
are set to be sinners the rest of our lives.
Thankfully, God doesn’t love,
forgive and accept by chance. Jesus willingly gave up His life for filthy and
worthless sinners. Jesus gave up His life to present us with, not fate or
chance, but a choice of who we want to be. I am reminded of the words of Joshua
when he said, “choose for yourselves today whom you will serve”
(Joshua 24:15, NASB). Like Joshua gave the choice to the children of Israel, so
we have a choice of whom we will serve.
Who am I? Well,
the answer is up to each and every one of us. We cannot allow past experiences
determine our fate. Instead, may all of us say, as Joshua himself said, “as for
me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Who am I?
I am a servant who follows God and His word…what about you?
