A question I’m expecting to hear a lot when I get home is “what’s the biggest thing God taught you on your trip?”, or, something along those lines. While it’s easy to just come up with one of so many things, I actually have a definite and consistent answer. It’s something God’s been teaching me daily since I came to faith in Christ and has been magnified ever so clearly on this journey.
Throughout this trip, I’ve had so many opportunities to utilize the giftings and skill sets that God has given me to share the good news of Jesus and to love the broken, poor, and lost. A lot of attention in the midst of all that has been put on what I was doing. I’ve been very self conscious throughout the course of my life and it’s led to me having a performance mindset. My personality, defined very clearly in my Meyers Briggs and Enneagram test results (ENFJ and 3w2), leads me to become overly focused on external accomplishments and successes that result in being liked and admired by others. Everything has always been about what great thing I am doing that puts me in a pedastool and maintains an image of self worth to my audience. I often would find myself finding identity in what I was doing. It fostered an image of success and I made sure to excel in whatever it was in order to distinguish myself from my peers. Being good at stuff isn‘t a bad thing, but placing someone’s identity in what they do and how good they do it compared to others is. We are so much more than that.
Months ago, God specifically told me, through his word and through the lives of brothers and sisters daily living out their faith in Asia, that he cares a lot more about who we are as his people than what we do. What we do, the skills, talents and abilities we posses, and the titles we hold mean nothing if we do not know him, aren’t connected to him, and don’t reflect the identity of Christ and his righteousness that results from relationship with him.
Two things in scripture stick out to me in terms of their eternal relevance: God’s Love and his Word. The gifts we have, this earth we live on, and our bodies, will all one day be no more. After that, all that remains are the two things aforementioned.
1 Corinthians 13:8-10,13
”Love never ends. As for prophesies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophecy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.” (ESV)
Isaiah 40:8
”The grass withers, and the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Personally Emphasized lol)
My point:
Whatever you do, wherever you are, whoever you encounter, boast in one thing. Boast in Christ. From there, we find and become who we truly are meant to be.
Jeremiah 9:23-24
”Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.’“ (ESV)
