Several days ago, I took the PSAT. It’s only offered once a year, and it only counts towards a scholarship when you take it as a junior in highschool. Needless to say, I was nervous. That scholarship would help so much! And it looks so good on an application to say you’re a National Merit Scholar...
That made me start thinking about who I am. How do you define yourself? Do you let test scores and competitions define who you are? It is so easy to get caught up in the excitement of winning and being known for how great you can do something...that competitive spirit wants to be #1 in everything so that the world–or at least your friends–will know just how great you are. But that is not what life is about! It’s about how great God is! All those trophies, scholarships, and titles you win won’t make a bit of difference when you stand before God after you die. When God asks you why He should let you go to Heaven, are you going to list off all your accomplishments? No way! The only way we can go to Heaven is by realizing that all our "accomplishments" are nothing at all! They are, as Paul says in Philippians 3, rubbish. They are something to be thrown away. Defining ourselves by anything temporal is useless. It doesn’t matter if it’s a test score, a piano competition, or even winning Bible Bee–none of that is going to matter at all for eternity.
So where do you find identity if not in what you’ve done in this world? Our identity is in Christ. We boast only Christ’s righteousness. We don’t have any righteousness on our own; imputed righteousness is all we can brag about. Seriously, when you think about it, bragging about what we can do is pretty wimpy sounding. When you view all our mighty works compared to what the Creator and Savior of the world has done, nothing we do is great. Boasting that Christ has taken our sin upon Himself to us His righteousness is all we can say. Galatians 6:14–But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
No test score or competition really matters. All that stuff is going to fade away. "All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the LORD endures forever." (1 Peter 1:24-25) Don’t let your identity in Christ be stolen by a false identity in something else. Every other "identity" we have is fake, and when we stand before the Lord, all those false identities will be stripped away. The only identity that matters is that of Christ.
Oh Abigail! Thank you soo much for this post!! The Lord knew that I needed that right now.....while studying for the Bible Bee, I can get so caught up in the temporary and forget about the eternal. I need to remember that it's God's Word will last forever...not any prize or applause. Thank you for the needed reminder ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post! I missed last week's Monday edition of Bible Bee reality reminders.
ReplyDeleteIf we want God to be honored and glorified, we will never be disappointed, no matter what happens; but if we are seeking our own glory, we are sure to be disappointed. Even Jesus did not seek His own glory, but the glory of His Father (John 8:50). Thank you for the reminder that all "accomplishments" are rubbish compared to knowing Christ. I needed it.
"LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished You have done for us." (Isaiah 26:12)
"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord..." (Philippians 3:8)
Thanks, Hannah and Alex! It's encouraging to know that we're all going through the same struggles. I guess that's the purpose of an accountability forum=) I enjoyed reading your thoughts and verses!
ReplyDeleteHaha--thanks for the comment about the Monday Bible Bee reality reminders=) Last Monday was a very challenging day for my family; we had a twenty hour drive that weekend and then had to unpack, do school, and get ready for music lessons on Monday. And, my dad had to fly to China that morning for work! So I was having a bit of a pity-party for myself and decided not to post anything. The funny thing is that I missed writing--writing on here every Monday makes me stop and think! So thank you for letting me write and for leaving the encouraging comments!
Thank you for this post Abigail! I needed to hear this today, just like Hannah said. It's so easy to get caught up in just learning the verses that we need to know so that we will do a good job in front of others, but instead we should be doing this to bring glory to God, to grow closer to HIM in our walk and many other things...but not for man's praise.
ReplyDeleteThank you Abigail, for the encouragement!