Knowing Who You Are

Copyright 2012: singeronthesand

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness;

and to goodness, knowledge... 

2 Peter 1:5

When my kids were little, they loved to play the game, Who Am I?  I would pull a card that had four clues as to the identity of the biblical or historical person named on the other side.  I would read one clue at a time and my kids would try to guess the identity of the individual.  The fewer clues it took to guess the right name, the more points one scored.  The clues were based on an interesting mix of factors:  physical appearance, personality, character attributes, location, tasks performed, etc.  The more the children knew about various Bible characters, the quicker the correct answer would come. After a few months of playing this game, I could barely get the first few words of the first clue out of my mouth before someone knew the answer.

Have you ever noticed that it is so much easier to know who someone else is than to intimately face who you really are?  We as a society have become amazingly adept at picking apart the celebrity in front of us or the guy next door, but shy away from anyone turning the spotlight of on us.  I am amazed at times by the young people who know every minute detail about Kim Kardashian's life and escapades but know so little about themselves.  When I ask my students what they think, what they know, what they want, they have very little or no idea on any of those subjects.

I am positive that biblical scholars would argue that Peter is talking about gaining spiritual knowledge - a much more esoteric calling.  I think practical Peter just might be talking about self-knowledge:  Who am I?  What am I doing here?  What does God want me to do?  How can I fulfill my life's plans under God's direction?   How can I benefit the peoples of the world or my community at large?  King Solomon said, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."  Knowing exactly who we are through God's guidance and revelation is the very foundation of our knowledge.  Everything else builds on that.