Who?

Poet and Civil Rights activist, Maya Angelou, once said, “When someone shows you who they really are, believe them.” In our modern world, where so many people are concerned about crafting the perfectly manicured outer image, this advice feels more and more important. You can know people for years before they allow you to see the real them, or the mask slips and you get a sense of their true motivations.

Usually, seeing who someone is behind the persona leads to disappointment or a loss of respect. “I thought you were kind, but it’s really just manipulation.” “Your motives sounded pure, but it was actually selfishness.” Depending on your relationship before this point, seeing behind the façade can hurt. If you considered yourselves really close it can shatter a piece of your world.

However, every once in a great while, seeing someone for who they really are can lift your spirits and change your life for the better. This is what Peter experienced in Luke 9:18-20.

18 Now it happened that as he [Jesus] was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 And they answered, “John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” 20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

When they first started walking with Jesus, the disciples probably thought he was a good Rabbi, a teacher who knew the scriptures really well. Through traveling with him, listening closely, and seeing some of the things he could do, Peter saw Jesus for who he truly was: the Christ!

When people meet you for the first time they don’t need to meet all of you, but I hope they meet the real you. If there are parts you don’t like, take steps to change the ones that are changeable, begin the journey to embrace the ones you can’t, or do the hardest thing of all and ask for help.

People want to know the real you!