Toure Roberts - Blessed are the Reconcilers

I don’t know about you, but I have recently experienced so many things in this particular season that I’ve been challenged to really dig deeper within myself. Not only to dig deeper within myself, but also to explore deeper the knowledge of God’s perspectives on matters. We’re in a moment where we are surrounded by opinions—very compelling opinions. Everybody’s opinion is compelling and often contradictory. If I weren’t careful, I could be pulled in every direction, thinking, «Yeah, you’re right, you’re right, you’re right,» until I finally pause, realizing that I need to seek God and understand His divine perspective. Opinions are dangerous, and let me tell you why: opinions are dangerous because they are words, and words shape identity. Oh, I’m going to teach you today; you’re going to get it! My identity—who I am, how I think, how I flow, how I operate, and ultimately how I show up in life—is predicated on the words I allow into my universe.

I recognize that there is a specific version of me that I need to be; I can’t just be a random «me.» Jeremiah 1 talks about this all the time—God says, «Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and I sanctified (which means I set you apart) and ordained you.» So there is a right version of you, and that version is shaped by God’s truth concerning your life. The reason I can’t get caught up in too many opinions is that I cannot be shaped by anything that is not divine. Come on, you’re going to get it! If I listen to you for too long and begin to adapt to your ideology, my shape and form will be influenced by you and not by God. Oh, you’ve got to get this! There’s always going to be a battle over your identity, and your identity is shaped by your beliefs. When I hear all these arguments and find myself swayed, what I don’t realize is that I’m actually being shaped.

I cannot be shaped by anyone other than the one who knew me before He put me in my mother’s womb, the Potter, for I am the clay. I can’t allow myself to be influenced by anything that isn’t divine. So, I retreated. I literally told the world to be quiet because I am a product of God, and I have to turn you off to hear from God and discover who I truly am. Do you see the connection between what you hear, what you receive, and who you are? Oh, you’ve got to catch this: you are what you hear; you are what you receive. That’s why the Bible says, «As a man thinks, so is he.» When things affect your mind, ideologies, and belief systems, what you don’t realize is that they are shaping your identity. I guard my identity fiercely, so fiercely that I have a 12-point identity statement that I review every single day to remind myself of who I am because everything is after my consciousness of self. Everything in the human experience is after my identity.

Before I engage on social media, enter the workplace, or face the world and its opinions of who I am, I remind myself of who I am. Before I even step into the day, I have already gone through my identity statement. Watch this: I do this so that I can show up as who I truly am. Are we tracking? Identity is everything; it determines who you show up as. So, as I was seeking God about this season and asking Him more deeply, I realized that sometimes we ask God what we should do. That’s the wrong question; it’s the second question. The first question we ought to ask God is, «Who am I?» because you are a human being, not a human doing. We are often trying to figure out what we need to do, but that’s not the first step. You have to get with God and say, «God, who am I? Who have you called me to be?» and silence the voices. That’s what I did, and God started speaking to me about a part of my identity that I had never considered.

And here’s the thing: it’s not only a part of my identity; it’s part of yours too, if you are a believer. I have never heard this preached or taught, and it was a revelation for me. That’s how I know it comes from God, because let me tell you why—I don’t want to do it; it challenges me deeply. Yet God says not only is this part of your identity, but this is your primary identity, and not just for me but for anyone who is a believer. This is your identity. And do you know what He said my identity was? He said your identity and the identity of everyone who is His offspring is to be a reconciler. Oh, you didn’t expect that! It’s to be a reconciler. Now, I’m going to elaborate on this.