Focus 40 Day 29

Remembering Who You Are

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” —John 13:12–17

My mother urged me, “Remember who you are and act accordingly.” She did not want me to lose myself in the crowd of kids at school, to stoop to the lowest common denominator of behavior. Her gentle chiding worked, for I did remember who I was (a child of God), and I behaved accordingly.

In a world full of people who are trying to find themselves, many of us wonder who we are and why we exist. Secular society tells us to focus on ourselves, to reach for the top, to accumulate as much stuff as we can. And yet, do we remember who we are?

God is our Father. We are God’s children. And as God’s children, we are called to serve just as Christ came to serve us.

Remember today that you are a child of God and act accordingly—like a servant.

Father, it’s so easy to forget that you have called me to serve others. So easy to be distracted by the drive to “look out for Number One” that I don’t look out for the last and least around me. Forgive me for being self-centered, and keep before me the image of your Son washing his disciples’ feet. Give me the humble spirit of a servant, I pray.

Melodee Martin Helms is a writer who lives in Southern California.