Who are you, really?

Kenny at Sungai Nibong Cell

R12 Series on True Spirituality - Coming to grips with the real you.

How often in the heat of the moment when we lose our temper we show our true colour. Often in testing circumstances the "real you" is revealed. How often in an argument you hear people defend themselves by saying "You don't know me!" The sad truth is that some of the most distorted view of ourselves is how we see ourselves.

All of us are conscious about how others see us. We live in a world where the outward is more important simply because it is visible. Who we are is not as important as how we are perceived. We may not realize it but we are actually advertising ourselves. How many advertisements have you seen where they advertise a brands weakness or shortcomings? If I do that for my clients, I will end up with none. So who are you really behind all the outward? Only the ones closest to you get a glimpse of the real you and even so, it's not complete.

Interactive Session:

1. First share about yourself, how you have changed over the years from when you were still an unbeliever or maybe even after you have become a Christian to who you are today.

2. In this cell, we know more about each other than members from other cell groups whom we may bump into on Sundays. So here's an opportunity I am giving you to say something about each other. Share something about someone in our cell that you really appreciate and why.

If you were asked to identify yourself, how will you do it? With the authorities, we produce our IC. In another country, we show our passport. In business, we give our call cards. Online, we go by our usernames or create an avatar. Often, in life's circumstances, who you really is is not important. How you are officially identified however is.

So in the world we live in, is the REAL YOU important? It is important if we want any REAL RELATIONSHIP.

Identity theft is big business. How many of you use online banking? On the internet some thief will get your personal information and create a new identity in order to steal what you have. They can cause a lot of damage to your reputation if they post false accusations in your name. But, they cannot affect who you are.

When you meet somebody new the questions arise: What is your name? What do you do? Where are you from? We all have our generic responses, but the answers to these questions really do not identify who we are. Some will identify themselves by the amount of money in their bank account; some will boast of their career accomplishments; others will give you their family history, and some will prefer to remain a mystery.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:14-15 NIV)

There is no one person on earth that knows you completely. Your parents don’t know you the way your siblings know you; your spouse doesn’t know you the way your children know you; your friends don’t know you the way your coworkers know you. Your church brothers and sisters don't know you the way your non-christian friends know you. Every relationship in your life is unique. So, everyone you know has a different view of the real you.

The only One who knows you completely is God! He knows things about you that you don’t know about yourself.

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)

So, the things you have done, the places you have been, the relationships you’ve had, the successes, the failures, the joy and the tragedies in your life are all a part of who you are, but do they really define who you are?

You know Char Koay Teow needs flat noodles, bak eiu, prawns, soya sauce, taugeh, chilli etc. Each ingredient is useful in its own right, but in order to become Penang Char Koay Teow, they must be added in the right sequence, worked over the wok skillfully over the right fire. It is the same with us.

To identify yourself as a Christian you must recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit in you. There are many ingredients in the recipe of you, but the most important is Jesus.

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one; I in them and you in me.” (John 17:22-23a)

As a Christian, the real you is being in Jesus Christ! That is why we often say, that they may see Christ in us. We don’t always meet the standards of our true identity, do we? Are we a splitting image of our Father in heaven? That is why He works in us, constantly perfecting us, so we will be able to be more like Him.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. (1 John 3:1)

As Christians, we do not have an identity crisis. Our identity actually defines our purpose in life. As a new creation, as children of light, as the salt of the earth, as children of the most high God, we are given power to be sons of God through the Holy Spirit. The only way for the world to know Him is for us to introduce Him in ourselves. That is our true identity and no one can steal it.

Are we perfect then? No, we are not by any measure, but we are certainly getting there. We are putting off the old because we have put on the new. We are fully justified but sanctification is a process that is changing us from glory to glory as we have studied at Bro Koay's bible class.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.