Maneuvers - No. 10
Who You
Really Are
So much of life influences who we are, friend.
Our parents, our upbringing, our cultures, our life experiences, our trauma… they all play a role in shaping a part of who we are. Or rather, how we view ourselves.
The truth is God created us as we truly are. Our real, authentic self. Our true identity.
But too often, our experiences and relationships form habits and beliefs in our lives that muddy our view of who we are. We start believing things, even about ourselves, that aren’t true. Or we fall into harmful patterns that don’t reflect our true nature.
Sometimes, we get so lost in these coping mechanisms that we lose sight of who we really are.
That’s partially why personality tests are so popular right now.
Each one, in a different way, pulls the curtain back just a bit to reveal the way our minds work or, in other words, the techniques we use to cope with life’s imperfections.
Because life has many imperfections, friend.
That’s why, today, God wants to show you who you really are. Beyond the confusion. Beyond the coping. Beyond the hurt and the pain.
Are you ready? Let’s open our hearts and our ears…
01.
The Message
“You were made by one God, one Father, one King, one Creator, one Family. You were crafted with precision. Every cell, every propensity, every desire. You were dreamed up by me—and then I executed that dream, with excitement and delight. (Yes, you were created with delight.)
“Do you want to know about yourself and what it means to be authentically you? Do you want to know what it means to live and experience your mind and body and soul through the true spirit I’ve given you and nothing else?
“Listen.
“You are influenced and shaped by many things. Your family and lack of family. Your relationships and lack of relationships. Your environment and your work. You are influenced by what you take into your mind and what you have gained from experiences—the achievements as well as failures.
“All of these things make up your life, but they do not change who you really are. Your true, authentic self is separate from the habits and beliefs you’ve adopted. For with these habits and beliefs come coping techniques that affect your true self. And that is not a flaw or a mistake. But it is a distraction—and the cause of confusion about your true identity.
“With my help, you can sift through these habits and beliefs to find the person I’ve always seen. Let me help you sift through any hurt, any pain—and all the decisions about who you think you are and who you think you are not. Let me help you find whom you are made to be.
“Living authentically requires your discovering the original you that I've crafted. It is the outcome of digging deep—processing all that has affected you in your life. Through this seeking, you will develop a greater awareness of what has shaped you. And you will see the you whom I see.
“Do you want to uncover your purity and glory? Shall we find you now? Yes? Can I lead?”
02.
Listen
Pause for a moment and let the words you just read sink in. Pay attention to the emotions you feel as you ponder them.
As you think about this week’s message and the questions at the end, what response to the Lord is forming in your heart? What prayer is rising up?
03.
Think
“God who made you has something to say to you; the God who formed you in the womb wants to help you. Don’t be afraid, dear servant Jacob, Jeshurun, the one I chose. For I will pour water on the thirsty ground and send streams coursing through the parched earth… This one will say, ‘I am God’s’” (Isaiah 44:2-3, 5a, MSG).
1. Today’s message goes deep, to the very core of who we are. So take time to think about this question: What experiences and relationships have shaped your habits and beliefs?
2. How have those habits and beliefs created coping mechanisms in your life? What imperfections, hurts, or stress factors trigger those coping techniques?
3. What is the authentic you that those coping mechanisms are covering up? What words would you use to describe that person?
Don’t feel like you have to get this answer figured out right away. Discovering the original person God created each of us to be is a lifelong journey that we take hand in hand with him. But for now, write down what the Lord is revealing to you and any Scriptures he brings to your mind.
04.
Trust
As we step further into intimacy with our heavenly Father, we can’t avoid looking inward at some point. Our God created us with a specific design that he meticulously fashioned. With purity. With love. With delight. With intricate beauty. The deeper we go in knowing him, the better we understand this design within us.
That design has a purpose. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (ESV).
The Greek word for “workmanship” in this verse is poiéma, a noun that simply means “a thing made,” according to Strong’s Concordance.
The word for the “works” he created us for, though, is ergon, which is an “action that carries out an inner desire.”
To us, these words in English look so similar. But they have such different meanings. One is focused on being and the other on doing.
We are the workmanship. There’s nothing we can do to become this workmanship. It’s simply who we are, and our identity is to be this design, in Jesus.
And in being this design, we can then act. We can do the good actions God has lovingly scripted for us.
Did you notice how the being comes before the doing in this verse? It’s no coincidence. And yet so often, we switch the order around. We try to do in order to become.
Friend, can you join us in being willing to unearth this design, this being, that Jesus formed—you? If so, we invite you to get in a quiet spot with Jesus, somewhere you can breathe, pray, and reflect. Now, let’s ask ourselves… What are the coping mechanisms, the masks, the untrue beliefs, the destructive habits that cloud our true identity? Let’s bring these one by one to our heavenly Father so he can peel away the layers that obstruct his design.
We won’t lie to you… this journey of looking inward won’t always be pleasant. It comes with some unsavory realizations at times.
But it also comes with joy. With freedom. With love. So much more love.
05.
Pray
Father, thank you for loving me, for designing me to be me and, with you, to do things more amazing than I could ever dream up on my own. I love who you are. And I love who I am in you.
I want to live authentically with you, without the hiding and the running away, so that I can know you for who you are, loving you as the real me.
I know that will require some digging, but I’m willing to dig today, and every day, as you lead me. It might be uncomfortable at times, and I may find things that terrify me, but I know it’s worth it if it means I can have a deeper, more authentic relationship with you. That’s what I want. You are all I want, Jesus.
Help me be honest with you, with myself, as I pray and read your Word, the true mirror. Help me see myself clearly, as you see me. I trust you in this journey.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Waving the banner with you,
