The Real Deal

by Tim Howard

If you have ever been asked the question: “Who do you think you are,” you may have noticed some sarcasm in the tone. My mother would ask me this question when she was frustrated with my defiance, noncompliance and disobedience. She would often add: “Did someone die and make you God?” 

If you’ve heard the idiom: “You’re too big for your britches,” then you know what my mom was trying to convey. It reminds me of Romans 12:3  “… Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with proper judgment.” In other words, have a fair appraisal of yourself.

Maybe that’s why King David asked God to search him, test him and reveal truth to him. He knew people have blind spots and without some outside help to keep an accurate picture, they can become deceived. 
  

God wants to help you discover the ‘real you.’ His opinion out-weighs all other opinions, because He’s the one who created you. The real you may never be discovered apart from Him. Without His help, we are prone to think too highly of ourselves or too lowly. Pride or inferiority will warp your true self-image.

Maybe that’s why we spend so much of our time pretending to be like someone else. Possibly we don’t know who we are or perchance we know but don’t like who we are.

The Bible makes a few things very clear.

1. The real you will remain a mystery if you live a life as though God revolves around you. When you think life is all about you, you become ‘too big for your britches’. As the Earth was created to revolve around the Sun, we function best when He is the center of our lives and we rotate around Him. 

2. The real you is who you are on the inside. Jesus; in a hot debate with the religious leaders of His day revealed their blindness. They focused almost exclusively on the outside rather than the inside. The real you isn’t what you do in public but what you do in private. While people look at the external, God looks at the internal because your heart reveals who you really are. In 1 Samuel 16:7 the Lord says to Samuel: “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature...For the Lord does not see as man sees; For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 

3. The real you will be revealed on the outside.  Eventually the real you will stand up. You may hide who you are for a while but you can’t do it forever. When this happens, life will be altered. When your secret life is found out, the ramifications aren’t always pleasant. 

God’s looking for those who are willing to be risk it all and be real. Phonies, fakes, hypocrites and those who pretend to be something they are not, do not help find solutions. They in fact are a part of the problem. 

You may not be the best or win first place but if you are real, you will make a positive impact. Are you the Real Deal?