Defining Who We Are

Be ye therefore followers (imitators)
of God, as dear children...
Ephesians 5:1

I had to chuckle at myself two days ago as I was making spaghetti for supper. I browned the hamburger. I had already added strips of green pepper and sliced mushrooms into the meat to caramelize them. I then opened the jar of store-bought spaghetti sauce and poured it into the meat mixture. Without thinking, I then went to the sink, turned on the faucet and added a small amount of water into the empty spaghetti sauce jar. I swirled it around to get as much of the leftover sauce mixed into the water as possible and then poured it into the pan containing the other ingredients before throwing the jar into the trash. I caught myself at the end of the process recalling that I go through that procedure all the time whether it's a spaghetti jar or a soup can. We aren't poverty stricken, thank You Jesus, but I do that in cooking as if I must capture every drop of an ingredient for cooking.

Since then, I have thought of other things I do along that line that I wouldn't have to do. I've folded towels and washcloths the very same way as long as I can remember. I wash clothes as faithfully on Monday's as possible. Friends know me well enough to know that wash day on Monday is almost a ritual for me. I even put a new roll of bathroom tissue on it's little reel in a certain direction that is different than how some folks do it.

All of us could think of things we have done by habit for years and never give it a thought. In everything I've mentioned, especially the spaghetti sauce jar, is not done by accident. In all of these ways and probably in a hundred other ways, I learned by imitating without realizing it. The things mentioned are things I watched my Mother do for years. She didn't tell me to do these things when I grew up and got married. They just became a part of my routine, a part of who I am.

All of us have probably picked up habits along the way of living, especially as we observed our parents and how they did things. We may not have made mental notes to take on their way of doing things, but just in our being with them in close proximity, there were things that “rubbed off” on us, so to speak.

It isn't unusual today to hear of someone who has an “identity crisis.” Such a person seemingly has lost a sense of who they are, not in name, but in who they are at the core of their very being. We may even tend at times to take our identity from others with whom we associate. There can be a real insecurity for some in just being who they are without apology. Some like to be known by a certain name, ability, or even office held. Some like to be known for family name, talent or high position. What happens if one marries a “no name” or develops a disease of the vocal chords or loses her position in some notable organization?

Several years ago, I had a real identity crisis. For a few years I was a secretary on the church staff of the largest Sunday school in America. Thousands knew me on a first name basis. I had a lot of responsibilities that I dearly loved being a part of. The day came, though, when my husband accepted a job in a distant state. We joined a fine church there, where maybe only a dozen people knew me. The rest couldn't have cared what my name was or the things I was capable of doing. I found myself on a shelf for a time. It was among the loneliest days of my life. I had been known for certain things and abilities in the other church...now it was gone. It had felt good for a time being known on a first name basis by so many. I was asking myself who I was with issues of self worth...self identity.

Along the way, I have learned that it makes no difference what people think of me...what counts is what Jesus thinks of me. I may seek to imitate people in order to fit in or to feel secure. However, my only real security and identity is to be found in Christ alone. It does matter how I treat people, my testimony of Jesus working in my life. If I am imitating Jesus Christ, my testimony will take care of itself.

Philippians 2:5 tells us: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus....” and thus begins the list of who all He was as He took on flesh and walked this earth. As you and I too walk this earth, we are to imitate Jesus in all He did and was. I can remember people through the years, I wanted to copy, especially when in high school. In that process I was a failure and did myself personally no favors. I had to learn that with all my flaws and shortcomings, God still saw in me potential, talent that was unique to me.

My Heavenly Father still views me in a very individual way. By the way, He does the same with everyone. We don't need to find our worth or identity in anyone or anything other than in THE One that really matters. That thought is so freeing. As I live in close relationship with Him, He will leave His influence and imprint on me. Those rituals and habits I've learned through life are just an example to me of the effect God can have on my life if I observe His Word and the influence He wants to be in me as we walk together through life. It goes far beyond a particular wash day or rinsing out a spaghetti jar. God has called you and me to uniqueness in our world, but at the same time to be imitators as well, but of the only One that matters...Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus, I want to be like You in every area of my life. I'm so sorry for the sin of neglecting You. I thank You for Your patience with me and for so many other considerations I don't deserve. Help me to function in Your strength, and yes, Your identity. In Your precious name...Amen!