What defines me?

I have been doing some soul-searching in recent weeks, whether walking on the beach, sitting on my patio, or sometimes, in the early hours of the morning when I can't sleep.  Here;'s the haunting question..."WHO AM I?"

I always defined that by what I did.  I am a pastor.  I am a Hospice chaplain.  I'm a part-time missionary to Haiti.  I'm a Christian counselor/coach, etc...  There was always a list of things that I did that seemed to define who I was.

It's different these days.  I am semi-retired with less responsibility and visibility--except for a sharpened look at myself--and I am not always pleased with what I see.

What defines me, I am remembering from what I've counseled others, is not what I do but who I am on the inside.  It is not who I appear to be in public when I am demonstrating my best behavior but who I am in the private place when no one--but God--sees me.

Scripture reminds us that while man is looking at the outside, God is checking out the inside.  And that can be scary to contemplate.

I've decided I really do know who I am.  I am a redeemed sinner, a child of God, a growing believer in need of spiritual food and fellowship and a joint heir with Christ.  That's a mouthful to contemplate but it is who I am, by God's grace.

How do you define yourself?

Join me in purposefully choosing not to recite what you do, but remembering who you are in Christ.