What Defines You?

What defines you? That is probably one of the deepest questions a person could ever ask me. It would provoke the most thought, require the most soul searching and cause me to have to get very real with myself. A lot of times when we hear that question we go to the bad things that have shaped us, but I think there are good things that we can allow ourselves to be "defined by" that are just as dangerous.
I would like to start with the dangers of being defined by our past and how bible shows us we are NOT defined by that. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is passed away...". So this means we cannot be...we are not...defined by our past. When we come to Christ the sins, the heartache, the mess we come from has "passed away". Meaning it is dead, gone...never to be brought back again. So if you are allowing your past (sins, mistakes, hurt) to define you, then it is time to adopt the 1st half of that verse and KNOW that IN CHRIST you ARE a new creation.
However, most people know the dangers of allowing those things to define you. What if you are allowing yourself to be defined by your present? What if your accomplishments....even your ministry...is what you are allowing to define you. Proverbs 11:2 warns us that "when pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom." We can allow our current accomplishments to define us even when we are doing work for the Lord, and that cause sin in our life. Our ministries should define what God has called us to do, but they should not define who we are. When we allow even the good things we do to define us, we open the door for pride to creep in and like Proverbs says...disgrace will soon follow because God will only allow that to go so long before He humbles us.
Maybe it is our physical "blessings" or "curses" that we are allowing to define us. The fact that we are blessed with beauty or physique....or cursed with genetics that make it hard to stay in shape, or we are not the prettiest or most handsome person out there. Maybe you are letting these types of things shape you. One of 2 attitudes can set in when we allow ourselves to be defined by our outward appearance. We can have the "look at me" attitude....or the "I don't want anyone to look at me" attitude. Both are very dangerous. The enemy can convince us we are better than, or less than those around us...and we are neither! And both oppose how God wants to us to come across to others. No, He does not want us to be prideful, but at the same time, He does not want us walking around with our head hung low. He wants us to walk around like we serve a risen savior who has saved us from ourselves and that is the only reason we are who we are today.
And that is the main thing God gave me in this post today. To say NOTHING defines you except the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is in Him that we are anything and it is through Him that we are everything. Philippians 4:13 tells us that we can do all things through Him...Romans 8:1 tells us that we don't have to walk around condemned because of what He did for us....Ephesians 2:10 tells us that any good works we do is because we are made in His workmanship.....and 1 Peter 2:9 defines us in the eyes of God by saying "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession"...and that we should declare praises to him because He called us out of our own darkness and into His wonderful light. When you stand in the dark you can't really see anything about yourself....but when you step out into the light everything is exposed. When you are in God's light you shouldn't look like you anymore...you should look like Him!
What defines you the moment you receive Jesus IS Jesus. We become righteous IN him...not in ourselves. We are no longer defined by our weaknesses... or our strengths. We are defined by the strength, power, wisdom, knowledge, gifts, talents, humility, joy, peace and love that we have BECAUSE of Jesus...nothing more...nothing less.

Another great song with today's post...."What Can I Do" by Tye Tribbett.....because we are nothing without Him!