Don't forget who you are.

Over the past three weeks, during times of prayer and seeking after God there has been one theme to every word I have received. It’s a simple concept, which is that I don’t forget who I am. It is easy to lose one’s self so far from home, when you are so far from the things that you consider to define the essence of your character. Sometimes I feel how much I have changed and it is as though I am a completely new person. This is not all bad, but there is a note of it that can turn for the worst.

E.E. Cummings advised, "To be nobody but yourself - in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting."

            We will all receive criticisms on our personality, the way we go about things, the way we speak, carry ourselves, look, think, and even things we would consider to be inherent to our very character. It sounds backwards, but this is actually for the good because that when you know what about your personality is unnecessary and holding you back, and what parts are important. Everything we make must go through the fire, and it’s important to note that most of those criticisms will come from friends and the only reason you get them is because they love you. Only a friend would take the time to tell you what you’re doing wrong.

 Proverbs 27:5 says “an open rebuke is better than secret love.”

And Proverbs 13:1 states that “A wise son heeds his father’s instruction. But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”

There is a difference between listening and doing, and if what is said does not promote you then disregard it.

Proverbs 12:18 says “There is one who speaks like the piercings’ of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health.”

 Some things will be said that will hurt like a sword but it’s important to take it for what it’s worth and ignore the style in which it was said.  

            How does all of this advice about criticism link to self identity? Well the answer is that if you know yourself and who God made you to be then it doesn’t matter what kind of advice or hardship you encounter. It can shake your house like a hurricane, but the house you have built will be in the foundation of the knowledge of who God made you to be. This kind of knowledge will carry you through the hard times, and it has nothing to do with what your good at or what your favorite color is. It’s not that simple, it’s knowing what the bare essence of your spirit is and proclaiming it. After this, it wont matter what you hear, only that you can grow and know that everything is meant for your good, and not for evil. 

God bless.