Remember Who You Are and Whose You Are
I’m thinking back to a time several years ago when our children were still living at home with us, but were old enough to go out on their own with friends, or attend some church activity without us with them. I can still remember, to this day, what was said to them almost (if not every time) they left the house. It serves as the title for this post today – “Remember who you are and Whose you are.” I think both of them would tell you they remember this statement.
You see, for all of the years they were being raised in our home we were trying our best to instill these two principles within them. We didn’t use these same words when they were little, but we were trying to teach them that they belonged to the Faughn family and that the Faughn family was trying to follow what God wanted us to do and be.
Were we perfect at this? Absolutely not. Just like most parents we made mistakes in parenting, but the principles we were trying to instill were still the right ones – especially after they became Christians.
So what exactly did we mean when we said those words? It’s really quite simple. We wanted them to remember that they had the Faughn family name, and that meant something. It meant that when people found out, based on their actions or speech, that they were part of that earthly family, they either brought good feelings or shame to the family name. We wanted them to take pride in their family heritage.
More importantly, after they became Christians, we wanted them to always remember that they were part of the family of God. They belonged to His family and were representatives of the speech and behavior He would want them to have.This isn’t something we can take lightly. As Christians universally, and as members of a local church which belongs to Christ, we need to be constantly aware of how we act and what we say.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because a thought entered my mind that caused me to really reflect on something. That thought has to do with our church families. Here is the exact thought I had: “Do my speech and my behavior build up or tear down the body of Christ?” When I’m disgruntled about something, do my words and actions build up the church or do they just focus upon my feelings? When the elders make a decision that I happen to not like, do I privately talk with them about the decision, or do I blurt out to anyone who will listen just how I feel about it? And elders, when you are questioned about a decision, do you approach it with humility, or get angry because you were questioned?
You see, where you worship is the body of Chrtist, and you are either building it up or tearing it down. You are either lifting Him up for others to see and be drawn to, or you are crucifying Him once again. How sad to think that my actions and my speech might be destroying the good name of the church that bears His name.
Yes, we wanted our children to respect the Faughn name. More importantly, we want them to always remember to Whom they belong.
I guess my message is for all of us to look deeply within ourselves and ask: Are we remembering who we are and Whose we are?
AUTHOR: Donna Faughn
