Are you using your “I am” list?
For most of my life, I have organized my professional and personal activities around my “to do” list. In google speak, this means my task list. Indeed, if I don’t write down a task as soon as it occurs to me, it seldom gets done while if I do, it does! Can you relate?
Benefits notwithstanding, reviewing my task list can sometimes lead me astray. In particular, I must constantly guard against conflicts between the apparent demands of my task list and God’s priorities for my life. While I desire to rule myself according to His agenda, I admit to missing it on occasion as a result of competing priorities from my task list.
Which brings me to my “I am” list. By that I mean, a recitation of who I am as a follower of Jesus. This question of identity is separate and distinct from what I do, both professionally and personally. Indeed, my dramatic encounter with the person of Jesus in Montreal in my mid-thirties delivered me from my former identity based on what I do (think “to do” list) to a new identity based upon who He says I am. As per the apostle Paul, “anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT).
Like the operating system on a computer, the internalization of identity works behind the scenes.
The operating system on a computer is an apt metaphor. Like the operating system, the internalization of identity works behind the scenes. If it becomes infected by thoughts about who we are that don’t align with Jesus’ assertions found in scripture (think bugs in a computer program), our responses to the exigencies of life can often be based upon our old identity. This infection caused by old thinking can result in our sometimes responding in inappropriate ways that dishonor the One to whom we have surrendered our lives.
Based upon 1 Peter 2:9-10, the following is my “I am” list. According to God, I am:
Completely accepted;
Extremely valuable;
Eternally loved;
Totally forgiven; and
Fully capable of sharing my faith with others.
A firm understanding of the foregoing truths guides and protects me as I deal with challenges. For example, acceptance is the lubricant that makes business work. Our customers buy our products because they accept our value proposition. Our employees follow us because they accept our leadership. Our shareholders invest in our company because they accept the profitable way in which we use the assets we steward. And, of course, there is merit in striving to achieve acceptance from our various stakeholders.
However, if we become obsessed with the acceptance of others, we can take our eye off our identity and, in particular, the fact that we are completely accepted by God regardless of our performance. The sad case of Enron comes to mind. Blinded by the drive to satisfy shareholders through continuous growth in earnings per share, senior management published misleading financials and, upon discovery, the company collapsed.
For a follower of Jesus this should never happen for two reasons. First, out of love for Jesus, we mustn’t engage in unethical conduct. Second, even if the business I lead stumbles financially, that reality can never override the truth that I am completely accepted by God all the time.
Are you using your “I am” list?
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
