Who Am I

Who am I? This is a question many people ask at some point during their lives. There could be different answers for the many roles we have. For example, who am I as a spouse, as a son, or daughter? Who am I as an employee or employer? Who am I as a friend? Then of course there is the general question of, who am I as a human being?

We can try very hard to, as they say, put our best foot forward, but how long can that last? Jesus gives us a powerful truth about this in Luke chapter 6:43-45, “For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44 For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. 45 The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

The Lord reminds us that who we really are will come out eventually just as a tree will bear fruit from what it is. Now I am fully aware that this is a two-edged sword. On the one side, we try so hard to appear to be someone that we know everybody would like and want to be friends with. We try to say and do good things. Yet, if that is not who we truly are, doing this is tiresome and hard work. It is very difficult to keep up with the façade. Now, on the other side of the sword, it allows us to get very honest with ourselves and not decide who we want to be, but who Jesus wants us to be.

Jesus tells us that a good tree will bear good fruit and a bad tree bad fruit. The point of all of this is that we on our own cannot be good, nor can we bear good fruit. It is only through the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit that we could ever be that which brings a change, a permanent change that brings glory to the Lord.

So, we look in the mirror of God’s word and ask the question, “Am I bearing fruit, being the person that Christ wants me to be?” As we grow in Christ, we will soon find ourselves bearing more and more godly fruit. The beauty of it all is that it is now something that comes naturally and we no longer must try and be something we are not.

This doesn’t mean perfection, but it does mean we are becoming more like Jesus and isn’t that the goal?