Who am I?

I am seeking to discover the true identity that God designed inside of me before I was even born. I realize that my outward manifestations often do not convey my true identity because of many misconceptions about life, about God and about my true identity still lurking in my heart. This internal confusion too often eclipses in my mind what God designed for me. But in my continuing pursuit of personally discovering and unmasking my real identity as seen from God's viewpoint I have written down a few things that I feel are true. I want to see myself more clearly in harmony with how I am seen when viewed from heaven's perspective and I desire to be more consistent in living out this identity in all of my relationships with others.

Given this context, I am...

A man who desires to live from his heart in caring tenderness for others, especially his wife and children as God does with him.

An industrious person who enjoys working, creating new ideas, building and improving physical structures and learning new skills.

A sensitive, caring person who is learning to live from his heart and make himself more vulnerable and transparent to people with whom he desires to have bonds of trust and friendship.

A musician who expresses his soul and innermost feelings through various forms of music that cannot be expressed through words.

A writer who listens to the voice of God in his soul and mind and shares these thoughts with others.

A friend who is learning to better listen to the hearts of hurting people, joyful people, people in varied emotions who need support and encouragement or just companionship.

A man who is discovering the meaning of real joy and desires to be willing to be there for people when they need someone just to go through an experience or emotion alongside them.

A caring person who believes in the power of close family bonds where each person will trust each other and differences or conflicts will be addressed in a spirit of reconciliation with the goal of restoration to close ties of love and affection.

A man, a father who never wants anything or anyone to hurt or threaten any of his children.

A husband who wants his wife to feel loved, safe and fulfilled.

A man who wants to express love and affection openly without inhibition or fear.

A person who desires to be filled with pure and holy passion, devotion and love for God and for his family and friends.

A man who keeps his natural desires and lower passions under control so that they will be expressed appropriately and effectively.

A man of honesty and integrity who values truth even when it hurts.

A man who wants to listen and learn from wise people who can help him grow and mature.

A man who desires deep, lasting bonds of love with other people that are revealed in acts of thoughtfulness, kindness and sympathy and that will stay firm in any crisis.

A man whose heart is morally upright and pure and is learning how to relate in healthy ways to others to demonstrate his affections while respecting the proper rights and feelings of those he loves.

A man who firmly believes in the Atonement already in place created by God through Jesus Christ so that all of our sins are forgiven and wiped away, all of our guilt can be released completely and immediately when we believe in it, and all of our relationships can be healed with His love.

A Christian who has committed himself to the pursuit of knowing God's heart intimately, His feelings, His view of reality and living in His love for him.

A father who draws out of each of his children with tenderness and persistence the special gifts and characteristics that God placed in them at conception.

A man who seeks to discover the real reasons that lie behind the surface and uncover the hidden beauty in each person with whom he connects, especially his family members.

A child of God who accepts the forgiveness of God which enables him to love others with a spirit of forgiveness free from bitterness and resentment.

A person who is learning to be more congruent in his expressions, learning to be less afraid of what others think about him and more attuned to what God sees in him.

A man devoted to discovering the passion of God woven throughout all of the Word of God and waiting to be unleashed in the lives of those who join him in pursuit of mining the Word.

A man striving to become one in whose spirit is no guile and no deceit found is in his mouth.

A man who is being led by the Spirit of God on his journey to eventual full realization of his present true identity as one of the sons of God. (Rom. 8:14)

A man who firmly believes in God's amazing ability and plans to work all things together for good to those who love God. (Rom. 8:28)

A man of grace who is eager to cover a multitude of sins by not engaging in gossip or spreading damaging rumors about other struggling souls.

A father with a soft heart of kindness and compassion for children who need a supportive, loving family that God sends into his life.

A man who daily seeks the wisdom of God to know how to respond appropriately with a spirit of kindness reflective of God's Spirit.

A father who has faith in his family and friends and believes in them, encouraging them to grow and mature into the noble, fulfilled persons God created them to be.

A humble man who at the same time is not afraid to “brag”, or acknowledge his intimate relationship with God. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

A man who seeks to learn from others, both from their strengths and from their failures.

A person who is willing to learn from his own failures while not becoming overwhelmed with discouragement and forgetting who he is.

A man of faith, not only in God's good intentions and ability but faith in those around him to respond to the grace and kindness of God's compassion and infinite love.

A patient person who seeks God's perspective when things don't seem to be going well.

A devoted husband who pursues the heart and affections of his lovely wife, cherishing her above all other women in his life and being ravished in her love.

A caring man who is learning to not be afraid to reveal his emotions in public.

A saint, who is a recovering sinner trusting totally in the character and identity of Jesus Christ as the basis of his relationship to God and to others.

A believer who gives all of his pain, fears, guilt and problems to Jesus believing that one Person is enough to experience the pain and loss created by our sins and I do not need to re-experience that again.

A man who deeply desires bonds of true love and affection with other people who are seeking to be real and open themselves.

A person who is not ashamed of the identity that God has created him to be.

A man with a soft heart for children and elderly people and desires to serve and protect their hearts and bodies from harm.

A person ever in pursuit of discovering true reality and striving to be a real, genuine person of integrity himself.

A man who desires to be bold for God's reputation and be willing to speak in His defense even when it is unpopular.

A man who thinks outside the box, unwilling to accept “canned” answers or be content with platitudes and empty words.

A Christian who wants to passionately know the real truth about God and sweep away all the confusing lies amassed in religion to reveal the beauty and glory and magnetic attraction of the true God of love.

A man sensitive to pain and sympathetic to others who are suffering.

A man who wants to be used by God to be an authentic witness of the ability of God to transform him as an experiment of grace.

A son of the Most High in whom the Spirit is working a transformation, shaping him through difficult and sometimes painful experiences to reveal the beauty of Jesus to skeptical onlookers.

A person who values beauty everywhere it can be found in God's creation.

A man who trusts God when he can't see through the dark and can't feel His presence just then.

A person who longs for real community and closeness with others who are being led by the same Spirit of the Father, whether or not they profess to know God.

A perceptive friend who desires to stimulate the uniqueness and specialness in those with whom he has influence.

A man who is not ashamed of his body, but seeks to care for it, protect it and keep it healthy and strong so that it can be used as a house for God to live in.

A man of peace who desires to live in peace with everyone under the protection and blessings of God's covenant with him.

A man who is not ashamed of his infirmities and limitations.

A person with weaknesses and liabilities that needs honest-hearted, caring friends to remind him, encourage him, give him perspective and support him in his everyday life and point him to Jesus.

A man who lives to honor his good name and trusts God to defend him when falsely accused.

A man with humility received from God and a willingness to be a friend, a confidant and a companion for everyone that God places on his heart.

A man who knows that the only true goodness in his life is only reflective of the merits and beauty of Jesus whom he is learning to become like through God's transformational power.

A man who desires to learn the lessons of life through the experiences that happen to him and become more able to encourage and support others who find themselves in similar difficulties with compassion and humility.

A man of prayer who carries on instant messaging with God on a regular basis to stay in tune with what God is doing and thinking.

A disciple of Jesus who is being mentored, tutored and groomed as one of the sons of the Almighty.

A gentle man who believes that force is never a means for good and that the true power of love is superior at all times to its counterfeit of force though it often takes longer to see external results.

A child of God who desires to be fiercely loyal to the One who has redeemed him from the power of sin and death and is transforming him into a glorious prince of the Almighty.

A man jealous for God's reputation and desires above all else to be an example of the work of Jesus in his heart with honesty and openness.

True identity is not found in self-esteem or in collecting what other people think or say about me. That is the perceived identity that is constantly asserting itself as the truth. But my real worth and identity can only be unveiled as I spend time listening closely to the Spirit of God revealing to me the many facets of value that was implanted by God into my genes and designed to reflect something of His perfection and beauty. The more I know God the more I will know the truth about myself.