Reader,
Christian psychologist Dan Allender believes something audacious:
You have been so uniquely designed by God that there is something about him that only you can reveal to the rest of us.
The first time I heard Allender say that, I couldn't help but scoff. Really? I thought. I can reveal something about who God is that no one else can see without me? That’s borderline ridiculous.
But the more I sat with it, the more I saw Allender's point. In general, I think we can all agree that God's not in the business of making human F150s—giving slightly different features and trim packages to creatures that are basically all the same.
Psalm 139:13-16 speaks of this high touch customization with which we have each been made:
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Yet this reality about your uniqueness pales in comparison to what that fact reveals about God. If it’s true that each individual person reveals one specific, beautiful, and powerful thing about who God is, then how big is God!? The answer is bigger than you and I could possibly imagine. And the ultimate calling upon your life is to reveal what only you reveal about him to the rest of us.
This is why you must travel the inward path to uncover your true self.
Building on that, here's another audacious belief for you: you have everything you need to live a flourishing and meaningful life inside you. It’s part of your God-given design. You just need to work through the layers life has piled on top of your core essence to draw it out.
What are these layers?
- The sediments of other people’s expectations
- The cultural demands of the communities you grew up in
- The roles, behaviors, and false beliefs you’ve been burdened with
- The pain and trauma you’ve had to personally face
These things and more have covered you up, leaving you to live as a fragmented version of yourself.
It’s not that you’re not you. You're just an incomplete version of yourself. That is why the pursuit of becoming truly who you are is not an outward destination. It is not a pilgrimage in which you will travel to some sacred place. It is not an academic pursuit in which you will glean new information. Rather than building, acquiring, and achieving, this work is about uncovering, revealing, and nourishing. The path is a voyage deep underneath the surface of your skin—a journey of discovery to recover all of you and then bring it to the surface.
That concept might sound a little New-Agey, but it originates from the Bible.
Romans 12:2 instructs us: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The word “transformed” here comes from the Greek word metamorpho, where we get our word “metamorphosis.”
This term appears only twice in the New Testament. The first instance is in Matthew 17, during Jesus’ transfiguration. To grasp the meaning of Romans 12, we must first understand the significance of Matthew 17. When Jesus was revealed as the Son of God on the mountaintop, where did his divinity originate? Did it come from a supernatural event? Was he bitten by a radioactive spider that morphed him into God-in-flesh?
The truth is that Jesus ascended the mountain as God in flesh. He had been born of a virgin that way. He’s the light of the world, the resurrection and the life. There was no spider. This is who he was and who he still is today. On the mountaintop, his divine nature was simply unveiled to his disciples. What was already in him came to the surface for others to see, and when it happened, they were awestruck and terrified.
Ironically, Mount Tabor has become a popular pilgrimage site for Christians. However, I want to reemphasize that discovering your true self does not require an outward physical journey. You do not have to travel to Nazareth to experience your own metamorpho. It is an inward expedition that is required to discover and uncover your true self. This includes your gifts and skill sets, along with your unique dreams, the way you think and process information, and the feelings and needs inside your heart.
And when you fully embody the person God made you to be, you are embracing your role as the Imago Dei — a person made in the image of God, revealing God to the rest of us in a unique way that only you can. It's why I can say with complete confidence that ...
You are loved.
I'm for you.
You've got this.
Jake