WHO ARE YOU?

Do you really know the answer to the question "Who are you?" Do you REALLY know the answer?

I think we all have a little bit of confusion at times in our lives and it can have a huge impact on where we go in life.

This is a picture of Jacy Klaire in her Lee County Middle School cheer uniform after a competition.  Do you have a better grip on your identity than when you were a middle schooler?

What if we put emphasis on the different words?  If we say:

"WHO are you?"-  As opposed to WHAT are you.  'What' is much easier to define.
  "I am a teacher"
  "I am a mother"
  "I am a runner"
  "I am a husband"
  "I am a coach"
  "I am a middle child"
  "I am a ..."

But you are not defined by WHAT you are- You are defined by WHO you are.

"Who ARE you?" - As opposed to who WERE you or who WILL you be.
  "I was all-state in three sports"
  "I was valedictorian of my class"
  "I was beautiful"
  "I was such a sinful person"
  "I was a drug addict"

  "I will be better once I finish school"
  "I will quit soon"
  "I will be retired"
  "I will be alone"

Our past helps to mold who we become but it does NOT define us.  The hope of our future motivates us to be the best we can be, but it can't dictate who we are in the present.

"Who are YOU?" - As opposed to who you appear to be.
Facebook and social media are great tools to connect with people that are not in your everyday circle of encounters.  Distant relatives, past friends, and others we like to communicate with can seem closer.  But, it can also be a huge confusing element in our true identity.

Most people are NOT who they seem to be on Facebook.  People put on Facebook what they want people AND themselves to believe that they are.  We see how other people are on their pages and we want to be like that.  If we can't actually be like that, at least we can look we are.

The greatest influence in my spiritual life other than my father has been Pastor Ruffin Snow.  Pastor Ruffin taught me more about life and about myself than anyone else in my life.  He teaches that pride is wanting people to see us as ANYTHING other than what we really are.  Humility is allowing EVERYONE to see us as we truly are.

Facebook and social media make it hard for us to stick to that standard of humility.  I don't mean you should "air your dirty laundry" on social media.  That is not being transparent and humble.  I mean you should recognize Facebook and Twitter etc. for what it really is.  A place of communication and "social"-izing.  Hence the name "social" media.

Don't base your identity on who you are and who you want people to believe you are on Facebook.  Don't modify your identity based on how many "likes" you get from a post.  Base your identity on what the ONE WHO MADE YOU says you are.  God made you.  God made YOU to be YOU for a reason.  God has a perfect plan for the REAL YOU in His Kingdom to make an impact.  His plan is not for the Facebook you, or the High School Year Book you, or the Sunday morning you, or the water cooler you, or the past you, or the future you.  God says "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."- Jeremiah 29:11.

Don't miss that plan because you don't know you.  Take time to find the YOU that God has the plan for.  Study His word.  Talk to Him about it.  Make it enough of a priority that it has an impact on your life.  Your kids need that you.  Your spouse needs that you.  Your friends- fake Facebook friends and real life friends- need that you.  And if you don't start living in that you- YOU will miss the very purposes for which YOU were made.