One of the deepest questions anyone can ask is ‘Who am I?’ The answer is not found by looking deeper into yourself through self-analysis alone. The real you can only be discovered by looking to the One who created you, the Great I Am That I Am, Exodus 3:14.
Two Kinds of People
Scripture describes two kinds of people: the natural and the spiritual. The spiritual is not first, but the natural, then the spiritual, 1 Corinthians 15:46. The natural leads to death, but the spiritual to eternal life, Romans 8:6,13.
Characteristics of natural man:
- Lives according to human reasoning
- Relies on intellect, feelings and personal effort
- Self plays a major role
We are born of the flesh as a natural man with a sin nature. However, the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him. Nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned, 1 Corinthians 2:14. He may know about God, but he cannot truly know God until he is made spiritually alive.
Spiritual Man
The human spirit of the spiritual man is born again and made alive by the Holy Spirit, John 3, 5. Characteristics of the spiritual man:
- Indwelt by the Holy Spirit
- Understands spiritual truth
- Growing into the likeness of Christ
- Desires to know, honour and obey God
- Lives from a new identity in Christ rather than the old nature.
Spiritual man possesses a soul and lives in a body, but his spirit becomes the governing centre of his life.
Where to Begin
The journey in getting to know the real you begins with the ever-present God. He knew you before you were formed in your mother’s womb, Jeremiah 1:5.
When you are born again by the Spirit of God, you become a new creation in Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:17. The sin-broken communication between you and God is repaired.
Spirit, Soul and Body
God created you with a specific design. The Apostle Paul teaches that we are made of three distinct parts: May your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete’, 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
Note the order that Paul used – spirit, soul and body, not body first.
- Your spirit is the real you – the part that relates to God, for God is Spirit, John 4:24
- Your soul – your mind, will, emotions and self-awareness
- Your body – the earthly vessel through which you interact with the physical world.
The real you is your identity in God.
Identity Is Received Before It Is Experienced
We receive our new identity when we receive Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Your complete identity exists, for in Christ you are:
- A new creation
- A child of God adopted into the family of God
- Chosen and forgiven
- Righteous and holy in Christ
- Accepted and deeply loved
- Hidden with Christ in God, Colossians 3:3
- Seated with Christ in heavenly places, Ephesians 2:6
- A fellow-heir with Christ, Ephesians 3:6
- God’s own possession, 1 Peter 2:9.
- God’s workmanship
- Empowered by the Holy Spirit.
These are not future goals. They are present realities now. By faith you learn to embrace all that God has for you.
When we are born again, we are spiritual infants. Like every child, we need time and space to grow. This is not striving to earn a new identity, but allowing the Holy Spirit to bring our daily lives into agreement with our true identity in God.
Identity Is Not Experience
The real you does not come from what you experience. It is not about whether you are:
- A success or failure
- Rejected or loved
- Strong or full of fear.
Before the world placed labels on you, God knew exactly who He created you to be. He does not renovate your old identity – He gives you a completely new one. The old has passed away; the new has come, 2 Corinthians 5:17.
The real you is your identity, established in Christ through grace. God gives you a new:
- Standing
- Nature
- Purpose.
Letting Go of False Identities
In our lifetime we collect many titles and operate in numerous roles. Roles that describe what we do, not who we are. Some are temporary, some remain for life. Some labels are negative; others appear positive. It is your identity that defines the real you.
God desires to remove false labels that act like a veil and hides who you really are. Every aspect of your Christian life flows from your true identity, which then produces transformation.
Transformation
Your spirit is instantly made new when you are Born Again. However, the transformation into the likeness of Christ by the indwelling Holy Spirit, is a lifelong journey. Paul speaks of pressing on to the goal, Philippians 3:14. Your goal should be to live a life that is hidden with Christ in God, Colossians 3:3.
This is progressive and takes place as we walk with God and learn His ways. A refining process that is much like gold being purified in a furnace.
Bit by bit, God removes everything that does not belong, revealing the true person. It is through life’s fiery trials that He purifies your faith, 1 Peter 1:6–7.
God’s Word Reveals the Real You
We are not left to go through this refining process alone, Isaiah 43:2. We have a book of instruction – the Bible, the living Word of God, Hebrews 4:12. A mirror that reveals your true identity.
As you spend time in God’s Word, His truth gradually becomes louder than every other voice. The Holy Spirit renews your thinking, replacing deception with truth.
Journey of Discovery
The transformation of your soul is a journey of discovery, as your mind becomes renewed. Your outward life begins to reflect the inward reality of who you are in Christ.
Discovering the real you does not come through endless self-analysis. It is revealed bit by bit, through relationship with Christ as He increases and we decrease, John 3:30. Your focus shifts from self-discovery to God-revealed identity. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, Galatians 2:20.
How to Know the Real You
How to know the real you is not a single moment of discovery, but a lifelong unveiling. As you walk with Christ your:
- Character matures to become more like the stature that belongs to the fulness of Christ, Ephesians 4:13
- Gifting develops – you discover your true potential
- Love grows – dependence upon God increase.
The real you has a place in God’s eternal plan that was designed in eternity, where God dwells only in the now, present moment. He is beyond time space and matter and knows the end from the beginning, Isaiah 46:10.
Every step of your journey reveals more of who Christ has called you to be. Your greatest discovery is seeing who God is and knowing what He says you are.
Prayer:
Father, show me the real me through your eyes. Strip away every false identity and label that does not come from You. Teach me to be transformed into all that You created me to be in Christ, until we take our eyes off ourself and You become our focus. Amen.
Dr. Wendy is a servant of the Lord who lives to share words of encouragement from the Word of God in these end of time days.
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