Who Am I? A Devotional Journey For You To Soar In Your Identity In Christ
Copyright ©2016 Arrow Leadership
All rights reserved
Printed in Canada
International Standard Book Number 978-1-927355-70-1 soft cover
ISBN 978-1-927355-71-8 EPUB
Published by:
Castle Quay Books
Tel: (416) 573–3249
E-mail: [email protected]
www.castlequaybooks.com
Dr. Sharon Simmonds, Foreword by Dr. Steve Brown
Cover design and inside layout by Burst Impressions
Printed at Essence Printing, Belleville, Ontario
All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission of the publishers.
Bible quotations marked ESV are taken from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV® Text Edition: 2011. Bible quotations marked NIV are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Bible quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Simmonds, Sharon Jean, author
Who am I? : a devotional journey for you to soar in your
identity in Christ / Sharon Jean Simmonds.
ISBN 978-1-927355-70-1 (paperback)
1. Self-consciousness (Awareness)--Religious aspects--
Christianity. 2. Christian leadership--Biblical teaching.
I. Title.
BV4011.3.S558 2016 253’.2 C2016-904876-4
Contents
Able to Approach God with Boldness, Freedom and Confidence
An Alien and Stranger to This World
No Longer Living for Myself, but Living by God’s Strength for Him
Foreword
“Who are you?”
During the Arrow Leadership program, we ask Christian leaders to answer this seemingly simple question in three uninterrupted minutes. Most start with their name and then quickly add their professional title. Then things get interesting. There’s still usually two minutes and fifty seconds left on the clock.
At this point some leaders get stuck. They stumble over what to share because their title and role has become all-consuming. What they do has become the core of who they are. Their business card has become their identity.
This is problematic and even dangerous on a number of levels. For starters, what happens to their identity when their role changes? What happens when they compare themselves to others who are more gifted, have superior profiles or achieve greater success? What happens when they are criticized or face opposition?
“Who are you?” is an incredibly important question—not only for leaders but for every person. We live, relate and serve out of our identity. Our answer to this question is central to how we see ourselves, how we view others and how we engage the world. It gives a window into the core of who we are, what we deeply value and where we invest our greatest energy.
So how do we answer such an important question? For Christ-followers, the truest thing about us is what God says about us. In God’s unchanging truth, we discover that our core identity isn’t rooted in fragile and temporary circumstances, comparisons with others, competing internal aspirations, overwhelming external voices, or preferences that won’t stand the test of time. Instead, our core identity is anchored in Christ.
The heart of Who Am I? seeks to help you live, relate and serve from the unshakeable foundation of God’s truth about your identity. With rich, challenging and biblically grounded devotionals that invite you to reflect, engage and pray, Dr. Sharon Simmonds has created a wonderfully practical resource to help you anchor your identity in Christ.
I heartily encourage you to embark on this incredibly important journey of discovering