Who do you say I am? That was a question that Jesus asked his disciples. It seems that people all around him were talking about him. Some said he was a Prophet, others said a nice guy...and others said he was a good teacher. What he really wanted to know, was what his followers said about him. What did his best friends think of him? Who was he in their eyes?
This is the question I think most of us women seem to ask. Who do you say I am? We ask the magazines, and they usually tell us that we are too fat, too pale, too short, too tall, too normal...
We ask those around us and usually end up with answers about themselves. People too engrossed in their own failures and flaws that they can't even look at us to answer who they think we are.
We ask our family. Sometimes we are a daughter, sometimes a mother or wife. We feel the pressure of expectations that go with those words. We look at what we feel we should be to fill the titles. We feel the need to be someone we are not. Someone who can do a better job of being a sister or daughter. Someone who can cook for their family better or decorate for Christmas like Martha Stewart would. Pinterest shows us what other daughters do or mothers make and we keep pinning up the ideas we know we will never do but wish we were that person who would. When we ask our family who they think we are, we don't even wait for them to answer us because we already have the answer. We are not enough. We are not what they need. We are just...
We ask the mirror. It reflects back at us what we tend to always see. We see what needs to improve. We see that we don't look as good as the stranger who passed us on the street today. We see that we look older and have wrinkles or freckles that we did not notice before.
Who do you say I am?
We forget. We forget to ask the only One who really matters. Our creator! The one who made us to be who we are. We forget that we are not just another person. Not just a sister. Not just a mom who fails.Not just a co-worker trying to make a way. We forget about who asked this question so many years ago! Jesus asked this question to his disciples. He wanted to know what his friends thought of him - not so he could fill their expectations, but so he could fill THEM!
Jesus is our savior. He is waiting for us to ask him that question. Who do you say I am?
He would answer...you are my beloved. You are beautiful. You are God's creation. You are exactly who you need to be. You are worth dying for.
So, let us try to begin to ask the question to the right person. Ask Jesus today, who do you say I am? Let him tell you who you are. All this time, we may have been asking the right question, but we have wasted our time by asking all the wrong people. Don't be afraid! Ask away...Jesus is waiting to give you his answer, his hope, his future. "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to give you hope and a future..."
