18. God’s deepest desire for me is that I become my true self.
(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.)
OFTEN IN SCRIPTURE WE READ OF PEOPLE WHO DESIRE AND LONG FOR GOD. BUT HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THE RECIPROCAL AS WELL? DO YOU SENSE THAT GOD HAS LONGINGS FOR YOU?
IF GOD DOES LONG FOR YOU, WHAT MIGHT HIS DESIRES BE FOR YOU?
WHY MIGHT GOD DESIRE THAT YOU BECOME YOUR TRUE SELF?
The topic of self-awareness necessarily invites us to look at areas of our lives that we would rather not focus on. After a while, this can become discouraging. Although God wants and works to help us confront and resist the unhealthy parts of our person, God can also help us to imagine and know the person we were made to be, our true self.
The psalmist speaks about the fact that we were created with wonderful potential, that God knows us, saw what we could be, and longs for us to experience that goodness. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16, NIV).
God knows that the journey to becoming the person He created us to be must include looking at our real self, our brokenness, and our sin, and that it requires surrendering our pretend self. But what God most desires is that our journey leads to us becoming our true self, the person he imagined us to be when He created us.
There are many resources available to us to help us become our true self. 1. The Spirit, living inside us, is a powerful presence and person that can help us see who we could be and then empower us to move toward that vision. 2. Another resource is a loving spiritual community. We were created to live in community and Jesus gave us an example of how a loving spiritual community can lead to our emotional and spiritual health. In Jesus’ disciples we see how their real and pretend selves often got in the way of their following Jesus. But we also see the growth and eventual wholeness and strength that came from this first community and how it eventually changed the world forever.
Jesus knew the power of a loving community and He instructed His disciples to shape these communities to “love each other.” To be able to grow into our true self, we need others who love, encourage, and help us see the person we could become, who create spaces for us to try and fail at becoming that true self, and who celebrate with us as we succeed. 3. Scripture is another resource for our journey to becoming our true self.
The teachings of Jesus, the stories of people in the Old and New Testaments and the teachings of the apostles help us see the kind of person we could become. For example, in Galatians 5:22 we see that our true self, although unique in some ways, will always show itself to be loving, peaceful, full of joy, kind, gentle, good, patient, and so forth. 4. Finally, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is the greatest resource in our growing into our true self.
Jesus takes away the shame of our broken real self, forgives us when we pretend, and shows us what humanity was created to be and do. Jesus also makes Himself available to us to continue to teach, guide, encourage, and empower us on this journey. The incarnation is the ultimate evidence of how God deeply longs for us to discover and become our true self.