Journey Update: I’m
starting to help with children’s church in a few weeks! I’m so excited! The
semester is drawing to a close. If you keep a list, add me to your prayers for
finals week! Also, my mom (I mean, er, the Easter Bunny…) put a new HCSB Study
Bible in my Easter basket. SO EXCITED!
Inspiration: “Do
your best until you can do better. Then, do better.” ~Maya Angelou
Post: Who am I? Who am I called to be?
Who are you?
What defines you?
Really, take a minute to think about it. This is what is on
my mind today. Take a minute, no, take thirty seconds, and answer these
questions. It is very easy to cover it up with roles. I am a sister, a daughter
a friend. I am a giver, a girlfriend, a student. I am a leader, a follower, a
disciple. But aren’t you more than these roles? What, at the very core of your
being, defines your life?
As a follower or disciple, I’d say that our main role is to
be a child of God. At the core of my being, I’d say the defining aspect of my
life right now is love. What’s yours? No, really. Stop and think about it.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-18 really helps me keep on the straight
and narrow about how I am called to live my life as a disciple. This is one of
my favorite passages of the Bible. Check this out!
“12 Now we ask
you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who
care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them
in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each
other. 14
And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and
disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with
everyone. 15
Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do
what is good for each other and for everyone else.
16 Rejoice
always, 17
pray continually, 18 give
thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
There’s a lot of good stuff in here that’s been really helpful to
me. I want to break these down and then talk about what this might mean (I
mean, I don’t really know. This is just what I interpret.) The first thing we
are told is to hold those who work hard in high regard and to live in peace
with them. That’s easy enough to understand, right? In my experience, the
hardest thing about this is remembering that almost everyone ought to be
esteemed for their work. Everyone has a place in this world and it’s hard to remember
others and to not be selfish.
Next are verses 14 and 15: “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.” There’s a big bundle of instructions. Or is it? I mean, to me, if you really think about it, this is really just saying to love one another. Hmmmm…(awkward thought bubble)
Well, what’s next? 16-18!
“16 Rejoice
always, 17
pray continually, 18 give
thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Rejoice always. But, listen, my life sucks. No, no it doesn’t. I
hear stories (and will hopefully soon have some of my own) of people in third
world countries, who are starving and sick and at war who can celebrate every day.
Why? Because they are alive. Because many of them recognize that God has a
better plan than this world. So, why do we struggle so much to be joyful as
Americans (or my one German viewer)? From my own experience, I really believe
it is because we are very spoiled as a culture. We are expectant and not
wanting of much. I’m not saying we don’t want a lot because clearly we do. I’m
just saying that in general, most of us have food, water, shelter, heat and air
conditioning, television, computers, and phones. Perhaps if we didn’t have so
much, we would realize better just how blessed we are.
Pray continually. Well, listen. I have school, a job, a family,
friends, eating times…That.Is.Awesome. But you’re looking at it wrong. I went
to a conference…five years ago now…and they talked about this. What I’m told is
that what it really means is to keep Godly thoughts on your mind. If you’re
walking between classes and see someone on crutches, ask God to heal them. It doesn’t
need to be fancy. Just, “Hey God, he’s on crutches. Help him feel better?” I
think, as American Christians, we have really put too much emphasis on having a
formal relationship with God. We’ve started to lose track of talking to God
versus talking at God. Just in my head, I imagine God listening to our formal
prayers and wondering why we’re trying to impress those around us when we just
need to talk to him. Does this make sense? When we talk to God we let Him know
what’s weighing on our hearts. When we talk at God they’re just words. Whether
they have a deeper meaning or not, they don’t really necessarily improve our
relationship with him. I try to wear a ring with a dove on it each day to
remind myself to talk to God all day.
Hoooold up. What does anything I just talked about have to do with
how we define our lives??? Well it doesn’t. Not directly at least. Here’s what
I’m trying to say. We often get our roles mixed up with ourselves. Who am I and
who am I are totally different
questions. Does that make sense? We are called to certain actions as followers
and disciples. I try to live my life by these in particular. So how do you
define yourself?
Do you:
Love?
Heal?
Pray?
Celebrate?
Give?
What, as a disciple or follower of your Savior, defines you? There’s
no correct answer. It all depends on who you are. Here’s my challenge to you:
figure out now what defines you. Once you know, I challenge you to think about
it in everything you do and live your life by what defines you.
Good luck!
Until next time,
Just a Girl
P.S. I have a lot more to say, but I'm out of time. I want to talk Proverbs 31 next time :)
P.P.S. Next time I'm probably going to share some of what I'm learning from my new Bible! SUPER EXCITED!!!!
Alyssa, I really like it's right in line with a lot of stuff I've been wondering about and getting answers on: it's cool to see others with similar answers :) I had been asking the "who am I" question and about a month ago I wrote up a paper for school answering that question. I'm posting it here:)
ReplyDeleteWho am I? It’s a question that plagues every high school student at some point, and if not during high school than sometime in their life. We all want to know who we are and what makes us tick. So, life becomes this quest to define who we are; some define themselves through clothes, others through who they hang out with. Me? I’ve always defined myself by the activities I do: I’m a singer, so I will sing my feelings to the world, be loud, outgoing, into weird things, and act like a diva. I also like to help people, so I’m a servant. Great! I finally figured out who I am: a singing people pleaser. Problem solved; identity crisis over! Right? Wrong.
You might think to yourself, “What is wrong with defining who I am by what I do? It gives me purpose.” The problem with measuring your self-worth by what you do comes when you, for whatever reason, don’t achieve that goal, or don’t act according to that stereotype. You start to feel like a failure, you start believing you have no worth because you’re not matching the standards of “who you are.” I started falling into that trap; I wasn’t happy, I felt unloved, and no matter what I did I was never good enough. All my self-loathing thoughts really started wearing on me. I grew bitter, self-hating, and felt trapped. In my search for answers, one day I online listening to a sermon, and it completely changed my view on who I am.
Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill church in Seattle, Washington, is currently teaching a series on identity and has helped me completely redefine my own. No longer do I define myself as a singer, or a people-pleaser. Those labels do not define who I am, rather what I do. I sing because I am happy because of my God who sets me free and loves me. I serve other people because Christ served me when he died for me on a cross. So who am I? I am a child of God.
Every day I have a different agenda. Some days singing is a part of that, sometimes community service is a part of that, sometimes neither is a part of my plans for the day. In essence, what I do constantly changes, so if I am defining myself by what I do, then who I am constantly changes and there is no solid ground to rest on. But I know that Christ’s love for me never changes. I am always his child. Nothing I do will ever change that. So when I find myself, find my identity in being a child of God, I never have to hate myself. If I don’t behave according to the stereotypes of singers and people-pleasers, I don’t have to worry about if I am staying true to who I am because that’s not who I am. I am a child of God therefore I sing and have purpose. He chose me, I didn’t choose him. God offers a solid foundation, so why choose a support system that is constantly shaking?
It is a choice to believe this; it’s not always easy. Some days I still get caught up in what I do because that is what is being shouted in my ear: “You are a singer! You are what you do!” And then I get overwhelmed and upset, but that isn’t what God says to me. God says, “Be still and know that I am God.” When I find myself in the permanency of his promises, his love, and his peace, and I let myself believe and receive that truth, the shouts from the world fade away. I feel secure, and no sense of failure is left. There is only love.
I love this, Jesse! It's really cool. My favorite part is where you're discussing the solid ground. I started singing, "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand"!
ReplyDeleteI think it's really important that we understand that our identity is in Christ. After that, you just have to work everyday figuring out what it means to identify yourself through Christ.
Even though you are an amazing singer (I may have stalked you on YouTube once :D), I think it's really awesome that you recognize that God gave you your talent for it and have learned not to define yourself by service and singing. I too have a passion for music and sometimes think it would be easier to just choose something and define my life around it.
ALSO, you are the FIRST person to comment on one of my posts. I am SO excited!!!