Who Are You…Really?

Tom Barnard

 was waiting in the lounge area of San Diego’s Lindberg Field for a flight to Chicago recently when my attention was drawn to a large, framed commercial poster on the wall promoting the services of a national brokerage firm. The poster carried the following message:

“It’s Not Who You Are, but What You Have.”

My first reaction was, “That’s true.” Any number of investment firms will say the same thing. In fact, most companies with products or services to sell will agree with the slogan. People generally are judged according to what they have accumulated, not according to how they have accumulated them. And almost never on who they are.

There is one major exception. God judges solely on the basis of who you are, what you do as the result of who you are, how you have accumulated what you have, and how you manage what you have. In fact, the person you are ranks at the top of God’s priorities for you. If this is true, does it make sense that who you are makes a difference to other people in your life?

Author Helice Bridges tells the story about how one teacher helped save the life of a boy who thought his dad did not love him. And the teacher didn’t even know the boy whose life she helped save.

It happened in New York. A high school teacher decided to honor each of the seniors in her class by asking them to come to the front of the class, one at a time. First, she told them how much they had made a difference in her life. Then she presented each of them with a blue ribbon imprinted with gold letters that read, “Who I Am Makes a Difference.” This led to a class project. She gave each of the students three more ribbons and instructed them to go out and duplicate this ceremony to others they knew, eventually reporting back on what happened.

One of the boys in class went to a junior executive in a nearby company, thanking him for helping him with his career planning. He pinned a blue ribbon on the man and then gave him two other ribbons to pin on someone else. Later, the junior executive went in to see his boss—who, by the way, was known as a rather grouchy fellow. He told his boss how much he admired him for being a creative genius. The boss was surprised at the junior executive’s show of appreciation and willingly let him pin the blue ribbon on him. The junior executive went a step further and suggested that the boss take the third ribbon and find someone else to whom he could present it.

That night the boss arrived home and approached his 14-year-old son with the last ribbon. He told his son about the junior executive who had pinned the ribbon on him that read, “Who I Am Makes a Difference.” He then said that he had an extra ribbon to give away and asked his son if it would be okay for him to pin it on him, telling him that he wanted to honor him in this way. He said, “My days are always hectic, and when I come home I don’t pay a lot of attention to you. But somehow tonight, I just wanted to sit here and just let you know that you make a difference to me. Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life. You’re a great kid, and I love you.”

The startled boy began to sob and sob—he couldn’t stop crying. He looked up at his father and said through his tears, “I was planning on committing suicide tomorrow, Dad, because I didn’t think you loved me. Now I know better.”

Are there under-appreciated people in your life who need encouragement? You don’t need a blue ribbon to pin on them. Send a note to them, or a card. Or an email message. Or call them on the phone. You can make a difference in their life. God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to make a difference in your life. It’s not what you have that’s important; it’s who you are. Let someone in your life know today. Pass it on.