When we meet someone for the first time they usually ask our name and what we do. Our answer to that question instantly forms someone's opinion of us. No one ever asks who we are but what we do. What we do seems to have more weight than who we are.
So WHO are you?
I don't want a job title or your family tree. Can we really answer that question? If we were honest with ourselves, that question makes us a little uncomfortable. Sometimes we don't even know who we are.
What we do is not who we are. We put too much into the “do” and not the “who”. A job or a title is not who we are. Why is it that there is so much importance on what we do?
I have to be honest, I’m tired of working a job. It’s not who I am and many years ago I decided that my job was not my identity. I strived to be a star in my profession and you know what I got from it? More work and pressure to stay at the top. I realized that I didn’t want my work to be who I was. God does want us to do our best at whatever we do but He sees more value in us than in what we do.
As far as what we do, God instructed us to do our work as if He was our supervisor. (Colossians 3:23-24) That’s not so easy when your boss or co-workers are less than pleasant. I assure you it isn’t easy to see your work as doing it unto the Lord in those situations. To make it work you have to be grounded in who you are. We would all be much happier if we are comfortable in who we are.
So what does God want us to do?
God doesn’t want us to preach to people. He wants us to love them. The best thing we could do is to just be good people. There is a lot of mean and angry people out there. America is in desperate need for good people. This is the only way America can become great. God wants us to be good citizens. That’s who we should be. No, we aren’t perfect but we can do a whole lot better than what we are doing. Too many Christians think their identity is the church they attend and what their title is there.
It’s more important for us to simply be the best version of us that we can possibly be. It seems today that it takes more effort to be patient with others. I see it all the time. People are in such a hurry and have no patience for others. Even today I noticed drivers who were impatient and rushed around me yet it didn’t get them there any faster. Having character and integrity is more important that what we do.
The foundation of who we are should be based on the greatest commandments found in Matthew 22 which is to love God and love people. That is who we should be. It’s not an easy task and we have there are many obstacles which hinder us from that but this the only way we can be comfortable in who we are.
