Who Do You Say You Are? The Most Important Question You Could Ever Ask Yourself

I remember myself, a young boy in a Catholic church at Mass reading the scriptures as I followed along with the priest. I remember reading the parables and and teachings of Jesus, like, “..first remove the beam from your own eye”, thinking this doesn’t apply to me – it must be for non-Catholics.  So there was nothing for me to consider in my own life, nothing for me to change, nothing for me to do. To me in that mindset, the teachings of Christ had no meaning and no value. In my mind, Jesus’ teachings just did not apply to me. 

Many years later, I worked with a trained spiritual teacher/guide. One day she asked me, “Who are you? Who do you say you are?” I was kind of shocked for a minute and had no answer. Then I proceeded to describe my age, education, marital status, work status, hobbies, etc.. She interrupted me and said, “You just described your situation but you haven’t answered my question.” Then she asked me to ponder it some more and revisit it the following week.

I thought, well, I guess the real me is not merely my circumstances. I’m wearing a body, but I’m not my body no more than I am my clothes or my car. I’m not my thoughts and fears and memories. I had an inner sense that I was more than any of these things. Then, it dawned on me. I am a spiritual being. I am a child of God, made in the image and likeness of God. I remembered that somewhere in the Bible it stated very boldly, “God is Spirit”. So, if God is Spirit and I am a child of God, then I too at my core, am also Spirit.

Later I remembered that the Bible also says that God is Love, therefore I am also Love. The Bible also states that the “fruit of the Spirit” Is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. Therefore, as a Spirit being in its purest nature I will manifest, unconditional love, unconditional joy, unconditional peace and all the rest.

INSIGHT: Now I know who and what I AM. And since I was created as unconditional love, joy and peace, but currently I am not manifesting unconditional love, joy and peace. Now I have a co-measurement to compare what I am being at any moment to what I really am as a spiritual being.

INSIGHT: If I am a spiritual being, made after the image and likeness of the Creator, then I am not just a hopeless sinner, or just an accident of evolution. Also, because it is obvious that while I am a spiritual being, I am not currently manifesting the fruits of the spirit like unconditional love, unconditional joy and unconditional peace, therefore I am not already saved by Jesus’s death on the cross. There are many things for me to do like, remove the beam from my own eye, learn to forgive, learn to turn the other cheek, learn to love others as Jesus loves us.