Have you ever struggled with any of the three questions that I am about to ask? Who am I? Where do I belong? and What am I supposed to do with my life? I for one had trouble with all three. Sometimes one at a time, at other times two at a time, but before I got saved I struggled with all three of these questions at the same time and trust me friend when I tell you this is not a place that any of us what to be. I turned to one of my favorite books of the Bible for the answers. Specifically Romans 12:3-8 (ESV) and I hope that the answers I came up with are helpful if you struggle with the same sense of purpose that I have.
Who Am I?
Romans 12:3 says, "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." Paul clearly displays a call from God to think clearly about who we are. The thing that hinders this is the personal baggage that we all carry around. It gives us all a distorted view of who we really are. I used to think the thing that defined me was the anger that I carried around inside of me. I used to think that the only thing that made me feel better about me was a conquest of a woman or some new porn that I might have viewed that day. It wasn't until I accepted that these things didn't define who I was as a man and that Jesus Christ was the only one that could define who I am or who I was to become.
Where Do I Belong?
Romans 12:4-5 say, "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we through many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." Every person that is born into this world feels a strong urge to belong. Even the most independent of people longs to belong. It took me a long time to realize this important fact: No Christian can live the Christian life alone! We need (I say need in the strongest sense of the word) to have brothers and sisters around us to help us grow the way we need to grow so that we can become what the Lord has intended us to become. I have a group of brothers that I have been meeting with for almost 3 years. We are together for one reason and one reason alone: accountability. We each have the responsibility of holding one anothers feet to the fire and making sure that we are living the life that we should live. I can honestly say that these men are my best friends and that I know with out a doubt that God placed each one of them in my life for a specific reason. We each need the body to be able to operate the way that the Lord intends for us to work.
What Am I Supposed To Do?
Romans 12:6-8 says, "Having gifts that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in his generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness." Identifying your spiritual gifts will be the indicator of what God wants you to do with your life. We are each one gifted with different things. Some of us can build things from spare pieces of wood while others can make an engine run with just a few tools. There are those that can organize a group of ladies and food when someone passes away and another that is great at decorating tables for a church dinner. I know men that are great with sound and video but they are terrible at doing long division. My point is that when we allow the Holy Spirit to have total and entire control over our life then and only then will we know what we are suppose to do. If I relied on my past experiences to dictate who and what I am then I promise you I would not be wasting my time writing this blog, serving in my local church, or even trying to live the life that I have been commanded to live.
All that really matters is that I know who set me free from the chains that bound me. I know where I come from and I know where I am going. All that really matters is that I continue to live in the power of the Holy Spirit and not in the power of Matt. All that matters is that God doesn't see me through my past, He sees me through the eyes of Jesus. I have no identity except the one that Christ gives me.
Who Am I?
Romans 12:3 says, "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." Paul clearly displays a call from God to think clearly about who we are. The thing that hinders this is the personal baggage that we all carry around. It gives us all a distorted view of who we really are. I used to think the thing that defined me was the anger that I carried around inside of me. I used to think that the only thing that made me feel better about me was a conquest of a woman or some new porn that I might have viewed that day. It wasn't until I accepted that these things didn't define who I was as a man and that Jesus Christ was the only one that could define who I am or who I was to become.
Where Do I Belong?
Romans 12:4-5 say, "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we through many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." Every person that is born into this world feels a strong urge to belong. Even the most independent of people longs to belong. It took me a long time to realize this important fact: No Christian can live the Christian life alone! We need (I say need in the strongest sense of the word) to have brothers and sisters around us to help us grow the way we need to grow so that we can become what the Lord has intended us to become. I have a group of brothers that I have been meeting with for almost 3 years. We are together for one reason and one reason alone: accountability. We each have the responsibility of holding one anothers feet to the fire and making sure that we are living the life that we should live. I can honestly say that these men are my best friends and that I know with out a doubt that God placed each one of them in my life for a specific reason. We each need the body to be able to operate the way that the Lord intends for us to work.
What Am I Supposed To Do?
Romans 12:6-8 says, "Having gifts that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in his generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness." Identifying your spiritual gifts will be the indicator of what God wants you to do with your life. We are each one gifted with different things. Some of us can build things from spare pieces of wood while others can make an engine run with just a few tools. There are those that can organize a group of ladies and food when someone passes away and another that is great at decorating tables for a church dinner. I know men that are great with sound and video but they are terrible at doing long division. My point is that when we allow the Holy Spirit to have total and entire control over our life then and only then will we know what we are suppose to do. If I relied on my past experiences to dictate who and what I am then I promise you I would not be wasting my time writing this blog, serving in my local church, or even trying to live the life that I have been commanded to live.
All that really matters is that I know who set me free from the chains that bound me. I know where I come from and I know where I am going. All that really matters is that I continue to live in the power of the Holy Spirit and not in the power of Matt. All that matters is that God doesn't see me through my past, He sees me through the eyes of Jesus. I have no identity except the one that Christ gives me.
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