Who Do You Think You Are?
Who Do You Think You Are?
Who do you think you are? I wonder how you just read that sentence. I am wondering what intonation you used as you read it. Intonation is the variation of our pitch as we speak and is coupled with the tone of our voice. Changing our pitch and our tone can completely change the meaning of the sentence. It can also change the response we receive to our sentence. Read the sentence several times changing your pitch and your tone – as well as the words you choose to place emphasis on. If you were to read the question without attitude, “Who do you think you are?” – how would you respond? My guess is that your response would either be one with an inflated view of yourself or one with a deflated view of yourself. Very few people would respond with a true and accurate picture of who they truly are. Let’s talk about it.
Our Inflated View
Do you remember the song with the lyrics, “Mister Big Stuff. Who do you think you are?” I would dare say – Mr. Big Stuff must have had a very inflated view of himself. Do WE? Can we fall prey to that? Well, the sad but oh so true answer to that question is, “Yes. Yes we can!” We may even swing from one extreme to the other – some days being a little too full of ourselves and the next day showing feelings of insecurity. But if we will pay attention we can learn to distinguish warning signs that our view of our self might be a tad bit inflated. The first sign would be if you just thought to yourself, “I never have an inflated view of myself.”- You are busted. We ALL do! Let me give you some examples. We all think too highly of ourselves some times. We value our opinions and our feelings above those of others. We want to prove that we are right! We can overestimate our self and let our ego get out of control. We place expectations on others. We are easily offended and think that we deserve better treatment. We enjoy being in control. We have the need to be perceived as perfect. We tend to believe that we are better than others and may even say, “Well, at least I have never …”. We can become self-righteous and think we have a right to judge others. We take credit for things and glorify ourselves. The Bible calls this pride and tells us that God hates it (Prov. 8:13). Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”We have all heard the saying, “the bigger the ego, the harder the fall”. That doesn’t sound like much fun does it? Let’s all take a moment to pray and ask God to show us the areas in our life where our view of who we are has become somewhat inflated. Looking within and allowing God to reveal our areas of weakness takes maturity and a commitment to grow and change and become more and more like Him.
Our Deflated View
There are times when we are the exact opposite of what is mentioned above. We become down on ourselves. We think harsh negative thoughts about ourselves. In one sense it is the opposite of pride. We can go from feeling proud to feeling totally defeated. We can wonder what others see in us. We doubt our abilities and strive to work in our own strength. We can have feelings that convince us we have no worth and no value. We can wonder what God has us here for. We become consumed with our weaknesses and cannot seem to find our strengths. These thoughts –if we are not careful - can become our beliefs. Before we know it, we can believe these lies and doubt our own worth. In another sense – this is not the opposite of pride – but is actually a form of pride. Think about it. It may take a different route – but it brings us to the same destination – ME. It is just as self-absorbed and selfish as pride. Both of these views – inflated and deflated are wrong and are not God given. Neither brings glory to the Lord. Whew! I do not like either one. Let’s talk about WHO we REALLY are! Ready?
Who Do You Think You Are?
Let’s pretend that is an essay question on a major exam. It is extremely important that you get this one right. We are not going to guess what the answer might be. We are going straight to the source and get the answer right out of the Book. We cannot afford to miss this one. If we do – we will fail. As a Christ follower, our answer will be different from the world’s view. Romans 12:2 tells us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Okay are you ready? Here is your answer. Write it down. Memorize it. Claim it as your answer to the question, “Who do you think you are?” Answer: Apart from God I am nothing and within me (my flesh) nothing good dwells (Rom. 7:18). Because of God and the fact that He loved me so much He sent His only son to die for me (John 3:16) –I have more worth and value than I can imagine. Because I have accepted Christ as my Savior (Rom. 6:23) (have you?) I have received the gift of eternal life. I am a child of the King – created in His image (Gen 1:17), fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). I am loved with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3) I am to reflect that love to others, and in humility esteem others better than myself (Philippians 2:3). I have a God given purpose (Ephesians 2:10) and I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13). I am His treasure (1 Peter 2:9-10) and He delights in me (Zeph. 3:17).
God is so good!
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