Do You Have to “Find Yourself”

“A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.” Proverbs 18:2

Young people have been saying for several years, “I need to go and find myself.” Whet people are saying is that they don’t know their true purpose here on earth nor do they know their real identity. By identity, I mean they really don’t know what kind of person they should be. Now I’ve never heard of someone calling from somewhere near Dallas saying, “Guess what! I found me here on I-20 and 365.”

This is the problem with many. They never really grow up to “find themselves,” and are still living in their teenage years because of it. If you’re reading this and this is your case, Jesus Christ can give you your true identity and help you know yourself. If you will ask him into your heart and commit your life to him, you will truly “find yourself.”

But there are many in the church who haven’t found themselves. They don’t know what they’re supposed to do in the church nor do they really have an identity as a Christian. They’ve prayed and perhaps been baptized in water by immersion which is the scriptural way, but they have never grown after that. They have gone on their way simply claiming to be a Christian but no longer abide in the vine of Christ. The church is full of this type of Christian and I’m afraid that they will eventually lose out with God. John 15:2 says, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” So what is bearing fruit?

One way of bearing fruit is having the fruits of the spirit which cannot be done without God’s help. These are the following: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. See James 5:22-23. We are constantly warring against the flesh and if you constantly yield to the flesh it will have control. I know if I constantly feed my flesh with this world and take no time for the things of God, the spirit gets less and less dominance all the time. If I would continue on this downward spiral I would eventually lose out with God altogether. “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” Hebrews 10:38 Eventually the basic faith in salvation is lost and the soul is lost. The works of the flesh are these: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21 Wow! These sound bad, don’t they.

Galatians 5:17 says, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” It sounds like a losing battle doesn’t it. But it’s not. Verse 18 has the answer. “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.” That means you want to do right, not just because someone tells you to. You and I can accomplish this by “feeding the spirit” in devotion to Christ. Pray and read your Bible daily and be faithful to a Bible believing church. You will grow and “find yourself” as a Christian. Remember, you may have “found yourself” in a good career but if you don’t “find yourself” in Christ you will be dealing with eternity. Careers last for only a moment in time, but eternity is forever!