Who Are You?

"Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

28They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

29“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

There's a question for you. Well, it's more like a question about you I guess. Who do others say that we are? If someone went up to one of your friends and asked them about you, what would they say?

"Oh, she's nice. She sticks her nose in people's business though. Other than that, she's okay I guess."

"He's a real jerk. He never pays back the money he owes. Wastes it all on booze. Stay away from him."

The truest judge of our character is through someone else's eyes. Do you remember the saying, "Beauty is in the eyes of the behold?" The same goes for ugliness.

A friend of mine accused her spouse of being negative all the time. He replied, "That's stupid. I'm not negative!"

We all have an idea of who we are, but who are we, really? Quite often we are our own worst enemy. We can be very hard on ourselves.

Here's a question for you. "Who does Jesus say that we are?"

Ooo, yeah. That gets right to the heart of the matter. God knows everything about us. He knows exactly who we are, not the person we pretend to be.

When all the window-dressing gets taken down and all of the false fronts get removed, who are we, really?

In the Book of Galatians there is a laundry list of who we should be. How many characteristic can you honestly check off?

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." - Galatians 5:22-23

There's a nine-item checklist right there. And here's the catch. We should be exhibiting ALL of those things - if we truly are Christians. If we are a follower of Christ.

When we place our faith in Jesus the Holy Spirit enters us and the sanctification process begins. Over time each of us will become more like Jesus in our character. God works away at our rough edges, one by one, until we are made perfect. At least we become better than we once were.

Look at that list and ask yourself a question about each item.

Do I love others? Even my enemies?

Do I project joy in my life? Am I a joy to be around?

Am I at peace with myself and my situation, always?

Am I patient (forbearance) in all of life's situations?

Am I kind? Good? Faithful? Gentle?

Do I exhibit self-control? ALL of the time?

Every believer should be ALL of these things. But who do others say that we are? Who does GOD say that we are?