Remind me who I am

I recently heard Jason Gray, a Christian artist, talking about his new song, "Remind me who I am." He was telling about a time when he started wondering why we, as humans, struggle with sin. He soon came to the conclusion that a lot of our sin occurs when we are trying to prove our self-worth to ourselves. It makes a lot of sense really. When we are consumed with ourselves and trying to "fit in" in this world, we end up making a lot of poor choices.  

Some of the sins that may fall under this category are idolatry, slander, envy, lust, and pride. Pride seems like a sin that most people don't struggle with, right? Nope....in Stuart Scott's book "From Pride to Humility," he provides a list of manifestations of pride. Some of the things on this list include complaining, seeing yourself as better than others, seeking to be in control, talking to much (especially about yourself), being consumed with what others think, being defensive, being impatient, perfectionism, using attention getting tactics, minimizing your own sin and maximizing other's sin, gossiping, being deceitful and being easily angered (proud people get angry when their expectations aren't met.) WOW....that list is humbling, huh? 

When considering this list and other sins that we struggle with, I think Jason Gray's idea, that we get entangled with sin when we are in an identity crisis, hits the nail on the head! When we are trying to find our own self-worth we don't care about the feelings or value of others. We want what we want, when we want it. We try to be the best we can be so that others around us will approve of us. We put others down to make ourselves feel better. We defend our choices and try to get all the attention. We lie and want to be in complete control. We get mad when something happens that we don't like. With all of these things we are trying to prove our value to ourselves, often at the expense of others. 

Jason Gray, in his new song, reminds us that our value comes from God. If we remember that, if we focus on that, those sins will be far from us. If I am reminded that I belong to God, that I am the one He loves, I will long to please and honor Him with my life. That changes everything!

Today I am thankful for Jason Gray's new song, "Remind me who I am" and the new perspective it has given me on sin. If I catch myself gossiping or minimizing my sin or being easily angered, I should probably reconsider my identity and refocus on the one I belong to.

Father God, I am so thankful that I belong to you and that I am the one You love. Thank you that I find my value in You and when I do, it makes me look at sin differently. Please remind me daily of who I am to You! Amen.