Who Will You Be When You Grow Up?

What do you want to be  when you “grow up.”  Do you want to be a fireman? A ballerina? A nuclear scientist? A superhero?

Many of us may begin with big dreams of what we want to do when we grow up, but as we age, that picture sometimes begins to cloud. As I work with college students and ask them this very question, few of them know exactly what they want to do. And this is the group paying thousands of dollars to get a degree in their chosen field!

If you ask many professionals if they thought they would end up doing what they currently do, many report that they studied for something entirely different! This question is an important one in all phases of life, but a more important question is who do you want to become?

Do you want to be a loving person? A generous person? A selfish person? An angry person?

Who are you now?

Who do you want to become?  If we don’t ask this question we might end up somewhere we don’t want to go. The truth of the matter is this: the decisions you make today represent the person you are, and foreshadow the person you will become.

No one sets out to become a mean person. No one says, “Why, I really want to be a horrible person whom my family despises and my kids can’t stand to be around.” Or “I just wish than when I grow up, I’ll be depressed. That would be so much fun!” But the reality is, many of us are those people or are taking steps towards being those people. And we wonder how we got there.

All of us are in the process of becoming someone

The way you live your life today takes a step toward who you are tomorrow. Will you be a bitter person? Someone who makes the decision to hold grudges and does not forgive today? Every decision is a step towards something. No choice is made in a vacuum. It changes who you are and reflects your heart.

So who are you becoming?

Today, will you make a step towards becoming a selfish person or becoming a giving person?

Today, will you make a step towards Christ or towards a continued life about yourself?

Today, will you make a step towards becoming generous or towards greed?

Before you know it, each one of those steps will have taken you far down the road and determined who you are. Choose wisely. If you don’t choose to lay aside your selfishness and pride, your bitterness and anger today, you probably never will.

Colossians 3 tells us to kill, to put to death the old self and its evil ways and to put on the new self and take a step towards Jesus. Only He can change our hearts, so will you come to Him? That’s the decision you must make. Will I continue becoming more like Christ or less like Christ today?

So how about it?

Who will you be when you grow up? The choice is up to you.

Contributions by Brent Aucoin

Joe Mieden
Joe is a pastoral intern at Faith Church serving in various ministries. He is studying toward an M.Div. at Faith Bible Seminary.