“But what about you? Who do you say that I am?”
– Matthew 16:15 – Mark 8:29 – Luke 9:20 –
When Jesus asked Peter who he thinks Jesus is, Peter answered without hesitation and with utmost confidence, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
When we ask ourselves who we think we are, what kind of answer comes out of your mouth? For example, when we were little and we did something bad we would say,
“What are my parents going to do to me?”
As we grew up and started developing our personalities and our friendships, we would ask,
“What are my friends going to think of me if I do/don’t do this?”
Now, as we continue to grow up into adults, we ask things like,
“Who am I really? Will I make my parents proud? Am I working hard enough? Have I made too many mistakes? Am I guilty or shameful of my past?” And endless more!
These questions all answer one big question: WHO AM I?
I was talking to a good friend of mine about her marriage one day and I asked her,
“So how did you and your husband find out you guys had an interest in each other before you started dating?” She told me that she was the one who got it out of him first. They were sitting on a bench one day in the park under the stars (cute, I know), and she knew she had an interest in him. So she asked him,
“So, what do you think about me?” This was so clever to me because it was a very casual, open-ended question that could result in any response. So he responded truthfully by saying things such as
“I think you’re beautiful, fun, and I really enjoy being with you.” Perfect answer.
Now sometimes, the people we seek approval from don’t always respond the way we expect them to. For example, I once asked my friends to truthfully tell me what they thought of me (I did this so that I could grow as a person and be a better friend to them and I am in no way mad at them for telling me the truth. I’m not perfect! I have flaws too, and I wanted to know them). Words like “dramatic”, “negative” and “bitter” came up. As a result of being people with feelings, rejection can hurt. Words can hurt. Whoever said “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” must’ve had a heart of stone, because from personal experience, I can definitely say I’ve been hurt by words, or lack of words too actually. I know I am not the only one who’s been hurt by things people have said. The people closest to us can hurt us the most too with negative words because we have a relationship with them. If someone on the street yelled something rude to you, it’s easier to brush off than when your best friend tells you something horrible and personal.
At times I think about what it would be like if I asked the same question, “What do you think of me?” to my group of friends, or the boy I like, or my parents, or my boss, or the barista at Starbucks. You know what holds me back? Yeah, the fear of rejection and the fear of hearing something I don’t necessarily want to hear because it’ll hurt or make me uncomfortable. This results in me taking perceptions of the way people treat me by thinking “Oh, well she disrespects me so she probably doesn’t like me for some reason… Now what’s that reason? What’s wrong with me?”
At this point, I have started to second-guess who I am.
Some people can take this scenario and go home with it, look at themselves in the mirror and not know who they are. Others will stay up at night thinking about all the things they’ve done right vs. wrong and how that affects who they are now. Some will start to look for approval in all the wrong places. This process can stay with people for years, an unnecessary stress factor added to an already busy life.
Now what?
Imagine we are Peter in the scenario above and Jesus asks “Who do you say that I am?” Well Jesus is obviously the Messiah, the Saviour, the Son of God, so we could respond with something along the lines of
“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Picture this: Peter responds to Jesus’ question with,
“You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. What about you Jesus? Who do you say that I, Simon Peter, am?”
The way we read the bible, Peter could be called things such as
- – Unfocused/Unfaithful: when he took his eyes off Jesus when walking on water (Matthew 14:28-30)
- – Traitor: when he told Jesus he would never forsake him, and then denied him 3 times (Matthew 26:33, 70-74)
- – Hypocrite: Paul told Peter to his face that he was being a hypocrite (Galatians 2:11-14)
- – Simon the Fisherman: that is who he was known as before Jesus
- – Violent/Impatient: Peter cuts off the servant’s ear in rage (John 18:10)
I’m sure if we asked our friends who they think we are for example, they could say some pretty brutal things.
Guess what. That’s not who we are to Jesus. Who we are in Christ and who we are to the world are two VERY different things. There is proof of who God says we are. It doesn’t matter if you believe or don’t believe, or how “in love” with God you feel, or where you are on your journey of life, or how often you go to church, or how much you know about the bible, or how many people you’ve seen come to Christ because of something you’ve said, or how often you talk to God, etc. This is how Jesus would answer the “What about you Jesus? Who do you say that I, *insert your name here* am?”:
>His beloved– Ephesians 1:6- >Children of God– John 1:12
- >Friend of Jesus– John 15:15
- >Chosen, holy and blameless– Ephesians 1:4
- >Free from sin– Romans 6:6
- >Redeemed and forgiven– Ephesians 1:7
- >Justified– Romans 3:24
- >Blameless– 2 Corinthians 5:21
- >Free– Galatians 5:1
- >God’s work of art– Ephesians 2:10
- >Citizen of Heaven– Philippians 3:20
- >Loved and chosen by God– 1 Thessalonians 1:4
- >Salt and light of the earth– Matthew 5:13-14
- >Special– 1 Peter 2:9
- >NEW– 2 Corinthians 5:17
Friends, the list goes on and on and on. God never gets tired of telling you who you are in Christ. The deeper you dig into His word, the more answers you’ll find as to who you are in Jesus’ eyes. Because He made you, His opinion should be the only one that reaches your heart. What people think of you isn’t what God will think of you at the end of the day. God’s love for you is impossible to comprehend fully until we see Him face to face.
The next time you are hurt or brought down by words, insecurities, or situations where you feel shame, guilt, etc, listen to the song below, read who you are before God, and don’t ever forget it. Proverbs 3:3 says “Let love and faithfulness never leave you. Bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” This is God’s instruction to us to never forget who we are to Him.
PLEASE LISTEN CAREFULLY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxkNj5hcy5E
“The LORD will keep you from all harm- he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121:7-8 (NIV)