Becoming who you're suppose to be...

Music is my hobby. I have written hundreds of songs that are really mediocre at best. I can share them with my friends who aren't musicians and they enjoy them, but when I share them with friends of mine who are professional musicians, they see the flaws in what I've done, and they can make it... better.

Christianity is a lot like that. I can live my life based on Biblical principals that I've learned, and other Christians around me, and people who are lost can be impressed, but God sees all of my shortcomings, and views my weaknesses through the lens of grace.

I think part of that is because a lot of time, I try to live my life by my strength.

The Bible is full of people who live their lives, and God steps in and radically changes their lives from who they think they are to who they are suppose to be.

We are all born into a fallen world, until God steps in and offers us salvation. At that point, it's like the master musician stepping in and helping us understand the subtle (and not so subtle) mistakes that we made. And although there will be times when we don't have the skill to work our way through a tough passage, God steps in and helps us.

Sometimes, it's dramatic. God changed Abram's name to Abraham. He changed Jacob's name to Israel. He called Peter a Rock, and changed Saul's name to Paul. In those instances, he completely said - let's start with a different premise. This is what I call you.

In other instances, God charges you with a task that is too big for you to do on your own, like with Moses, or John the baptist and Timothy.

In either case, God is calling us to shed the identity that we have had since our natural birth and adopt an identity that is based on God's vision of who we are.

Let's start this week casting off who we think we are, and asking go to show us who we are suppose to be.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21 ESV)