Who Are YOU???

Everyone knew Scrooge, in fact, just about everyone ‘knows’ Scrooge. Over 150 years ago Charles Dickens brought to life the character Ebenezer Scrooge in his beloved “A Christmas Carol.” Today the nickname ’Scrooge’ is often pinned on those who lack Christmas spirit.

Scrooge was a money-hungry, miserly old grouch. So, was it his attitude toward money, his harsh business dealings and grouchiness that defined him? Or was it rather that these undesirable traits and behaviors emerged from who he already was?

Dicken’s Scrooge is fictitious, so I'll not argue the point. However, the question is relevant for each one of us. Is it our behaviors and words and moods that make us who we are, or is it who we are that really defines our behaviors and speech and moods?

Think back to a funeral you have attended, not just any funeral, not necessarily the last funeral, but a very specific funeral. Recall a funeral in which the good deeds and kind attitudes and encouraging words of the deceased were remembered and then the speaker added, "That's just the way she (he) was."

Do you see the beauty of that statement? The good deeds and acts of service were not what defined the deceased, they were a natural outcome of who she was already. Her goodness produced good behavior, good attitudes, and kind and encouraging words.

The simple point is that she was defined by her good character; her good behavior was a natural outgrowth of her character, her inner identity.

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People in our day are still ‘trying to find themselves.’ People are still dealing with ‘mid-life crises.’ You have known people who ‘do’ good things, admirable things, even great things, then you see their lives in turmoil because of addictions, immorality, or criminal behavior. Someone quips, “I guess you never really know a person.” All the good is just a lot of ‘doing’ by actors who have no idea who they really are. Lost identity.

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I think most people in our culture see themselves (and others) as the sum total of all they have done. One's identity is defined by a set of accomplishments, a kind of resume’ of life. The longer the resume’, the more significance...or so we think.

Does your resume’ define you, or do you define your resume’? Who are YOU?

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Did you know that your fellowship with God is based on your identity? God does not ask for a resume’, a list of accomplishments, but rather a relationship. He identifies you by your relationship to Him.

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
                                                                                            --Colossians 3:3

The Christian has died and therefore lost his identity, but he is hidden with Christ in God. So, he has not lost his identity.

Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son;
and if a son, then an heir through God.
                                                                --Galatians 4:7

The Christian has changed identities, no longer living for himself, but losing his identity in Christ, he is a son of God.

The Apostle Paul challenged Christians to not turn back to their old lives because they had “...come to know God, or rather to be known by God….” (Galatians 4:9)

Do you know who you are?
Are you a child of God,
       known by God,
              awaiting your inheritance?

Who are YOU???