You are not defined by your mistakes. You are not defined by your successes. You are not defined by your job. You are not defined by what you own. You are not defined by what you have been. You are not defined by what others think of you.
Unless you let yourself be…
You are defined by what you choose to believe you are. Following on from yesterday’s post about Gideon being a ‘Mighty Warrior’, I wanted to write a bit more about who we are.
People around us can say things that end up sticking, and they become part of our identities. Fat, stupid, negative, selfish, coward, a failure, a liar, the one who missed the shot, the one who forgot the words, the shy one, the arrogant one… I’m sure you could add to that list some labels that have been given to you over the years. Maybe there are some positive ones in there too: the fun one, the clever one, the one who solves problems, the one who bakes great cakes, the pretty one, the reliable one… Again, I’m sure you can add to that list.
The problem is that when the negative labels become a huge part of who we are, it can limit what we do. If we believe we are a coward, we won’t take risks. If we believe we are a failure, we won’t oush ourselves. You get the idea. If the positive labels become a huge part of who we are there is pressure to live up to that. So what happens when you don’t have the answers? What happens when you need to step back and look after yourself but that would mean letting others down?
The other things is that the people around us only see part of the story. The people around Gideon wouldn’t have called him a mighty warrior. But God saw his potential. Gideon chose to believe God, not the people around him. Have you ever seen something in yourself that the people around have taken away? Maybe they’ve told you that you’re not who you think you are. You have the choice to listen to them, or to believe in yourself.
God sees you. He has claimed you, adopted you into his family (Ephesians 1), you are his child (1 John 3) and the apple of his eye (Psalm 17). He sees the real you, not the skewed view of the people around you. So his is the reliable voice. You are his (Isaiah 43). And if you ask him, and listen to him, he can tell you who you are. At the most basic level, you are his child. And nothing will change that – no scars, no mistakes, no decisions. You can choose to believe that, or to believe what the people around you say. But I guarantee God’s voice is more accurate. He sees the best you can be. And if God sees that and believes in you, you don’t have to worry about what others think. Because God is enough.
You are his much loved child, and he will never leave you.
The Reason for my Hope Blog 