Who Am I?

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?