When NASA was created in 1958, it was President Eisenhower who decided how the astronauts would be chosen. All would have to be miliary pilots, younger than 40 and under 5’11” (a space capsule couldn’t take anyone larger than that), in perfect shape and an expert jet pilot with more than 1500 hours of flying time.
NASA found 110 men who met these standards. Of these, 56 were picked to travel to Washington for interviews. When they arrived they were given a test to determine their eligibility. One of the questions on the test was: “Give twenty answers to the question, ‘Who am I?”
Years later, astronaut John Glen recalled, “The first few answers to that one were easy. I am a man, I am a Marine, I am a flier, I am a husband, I am an officer. When you got down to the end, it was not so easy to figure out just who you were.”
When I read an article with the information in the preceding paragraphs, I thought about how true his statement is for most people. When they get down to the end, to the bottom of it all, they don’t find it easy to figure out who they are. People tend to define themselves by what they do, not by who they actually are.
All over the world, people ask the same question once they have learned another person’s name and still wants to know more about him. “What do you do?” The answer to that question is often used to determine the value of another human being. If you answer, “I’m a brain surgeon,” you will be perceived in one way. If you answer, “I’m your garbage collector,” the inquirer might have a different opinion of you.
What is your answer to the question, “Who am I?” The Bible has the answer to that question. If you are a Christian, the Scripture says:
You are the temple of God and therefore are holy. (See 1 Cor. 3:16-17)
You are a divine work of art. (See Ephesians 2:10)
You are righteous. (See Romans 5:19)
You are one with Jesus Christ. (See 1 Cor. 6:17)
These are only a few of the ways that the Bible describes the Christian. Will you pause right now and affirm the truth of who you really are? The world doesn’t define you. You aren’t who people think you are. You may not even be who you think you are. You are who God says you are. He created you and He alone can define who you are as a person.
By faith, affirm what He says about you even if your feelings or actions don’t align themselves with His declaration of your identity. God made you to be who you are. Believe what He says about your identity and then live each day from that
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