Who Are You, Really?

By Allen White

When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.

When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.” Matthew 8:14-17

Jesus was a powerful and authoritative teacher. No one won an argument with Jesus. The religious leaders often left frustrated and tongue-tied. But, Jesus wasn’t merely clever. His words reflected who He is.

In this account, Jesus walks into the house, takes authority over an illness, and then they get about the rest of what He and the disciples were doing. Peter’s mother-in-law was healed with a silent touch. No words were exchanged, but the authority was demonstrated.

Jesus had power over demons and other sickness. These physical signs proved that Jesus was exactly who He said He was. Other false prophets and false teachers had tried to charm the people with their words. Jesus was exactly who He said He was. His words and actions proved to erase people’s doubts.

Jesus didn’t heal people just because He could. He wasn’t casting out demons for show. Isaiah had prophesied centuries before that the Messiah would have this kind of authority (Isaiah 53:3-5). These physical proofs demonstrated who Jesus was and fulfilled the prophesies about Him.

Jesus lived an integrated life. What He said and did reflected who He was. His words and actions fulfilled the mission He came to fulfill. You have to admire the clarity in Jesus’ life.

Our lives can be quite scattered and compartmentalized. Most people, I would daresay, don’t understand their life’s purpose. What were we put on this earth to accomplish? Our spiritual gifts along with our abilities, personality, passion and experiences have a lot to say about our life mission. A course like Network, SHAPE or PLACE is helpful to put this in focus.

So much seems to get in the way of what God is trying to accomplish in our lives. Wounds from our pasts blur our vision and often taint our responses. Sometimes we know the direction we should take, but we lack the motivation to get there. The person we want to be is conflicted with the person we feel like being. Then, there’s the person others think we ought to be.

The easy solution is that we would have our work self, our home self, our church self, our fun self, and somewhere in there our real self. No wonder it’s easy to forget who we are. After all, in the sage words of George Costanza: "A George divided against itself cannot stand!" And, neither can we.

We all know when we are putting on – saying things or doing things so people will accept us or think well of us. We don’t need to do this. God made us to be who we are. Despite our perceived inadequacies and woundedness, God put each of us on this earth to accomplish His purpose. Our authority doesn’t come from our impressiveness. Any authority we possess is God’s. God will make us adequate to the mission.

Why has God put you here on this earth? What needs are you drawn to? What is keeping you from doing something about it? You are exactly who God has made you to be – no more, no less. Who you are is enough.

More from Allen White: allenwhite.org