Don’t Forget Who You Are

“The more you reaffirm who you are in Christ, the more your behavior will begin to reflect your true identity.”

- Unknown

Remember those annoying phrases your parents said when you were growing up? You know, the ones you swore you would never say to your children only to hear your parents’ words coming out of your mouth? Things like “Just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean that you have to.”

My parents’ favorite was “Don’t forget who you are” before I’d leave the house to go out with my friends. My sisters and I were raised with strong family values centered on Christ and my parents reminded us of that often.

As Pastor Jared taught this past weekend, Daniel knew who he was. His family, under King Josiah’s leadership, established values that allowed Daniel to ‘put down rocks’ and honor God in a foreign land. God was his judge, and he didn’t let the Babylonians brainwash him with their gods. I encourage you to read Deuteronomy, but here are some excerpts from Chapter 11:

Love the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.

- Deuteronomy 11:1

Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.

- Deuteronomy 11:6

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

- Deuteronomy 11:18-20

When our children were in upper elementary school, we wrote a family constitution. Together, the four of us came up with a mission statement for the Ingold family; values we held as important and protocols for our actions towards one another and others. We established the importance of, not only church life, but memorizing scripture. You might say we ‘put down rocks’ for our family.

Friends, we’re living in our own Babylon right now! We must remember who we are.

Psalms 119:11 says,

I have hidden your word in my heart that I may not sin against you.

This week, Ken and I were put to the test to see if we would bend to the ways of the Babylonians or honor God. We are in the middle of updating flooring in our home, and we learned we have cracks in our slab. Not horrible cracks, but a few of them. We were faced with two options: 1) Cover them up with the new flooring and not say a word when we sell our home someday, or 2) Have an engineer come, inspect them, and write a report stating that they were repaired. We would then need to disclose that information to a future buyer someday.

If we hadn’t established long ago who we are as a family and ‘put down our rocks,’ we might have chosen the first option. For us, the second option was the only choice. Friends, it’s up to each of us to not only live as followers of Jesus, but to teach our children and grandchildren the same! So are you up for a challenge? This week, pick a verse you’d like to memorize. (I’m currently working on I Timothy 4:7b-9). Every day, spend time repeating and committing it to memory! Why not make it a family challenge? I’ll even give you a verse to start, Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your path straight.” (I’m not letting you off the hook with “Jesus wept!” John 11:35)

Jump in with me and then let me know how it goes!

Pastor Pam

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