The Lie of: You Are Who You Know

In Daily Devotional, Friends, Life Issues by Daniel Im

Theme of the Week: You Are What You Do: Lies About Work, Life, and Love

Bible Verse: “Jesus said, ‘Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.” John 4:13

Scripture Reading: John 4:1-26

The lie that you are who you know is like a fog. You see it all around you, you can feel the coolness of it, and you see others enwrapped in it, but when you try to grab it, you can’t – it just dissipates. And a life built on this lie doesn’t lead to a thing it promises: greater levels of meaningful connection with others. Ironically, it actually produces the exact opposite: isolation.

I wanted her to see me. I wanted her to want me. I wanted her to need me. And I was willing to be whoever I needed to be to make it happen.

Have you ever had thoughts like these? Where you were willing to edit yourself? Change whatever you needed to change? And essentially become whoever you needed to become just to fit in, be accepted, or feel loved?

Before marrying Christina, I was addicted to pornography. With one of my previous girlfriends, I was addicted to sex. And when I would meet a woman I was attracted to, those were the thoughts that drove everything for me. The thing is, none of it was ever enough. No amount of masturbation, pornography, lust, or sex satisfied that longing I had to connect with others, to know another person intimately, to be known as I really am, and to feel accepted.

Other people do not satisfy. They cannot satisfy the longings that drive us to them. In fact, even a spouse can’t ultimately satisfy that deeper longing we all have to know and be known. You are not who you know.


Excerpted with permission from You Are What You Do by Daniel Im. Copyright 2020, B&H Publishing Group.


Copyright © 2020 Impactus | Promise Keepers Canada. All rights reserved.

About
Daniel Im
Daniel Im is the Lead Pastor of Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, AB. Daniel is a speaker and leader who has traveled to cities like New York, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Sydney, and Seoul to teach, consult, and coach. He co-hosts the New Churches Q&A Podcast as well as the IMbetween Podcast and is the author of You Are What You Do, No Silver Bullets and Planting Missional Churches.
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Daniel Im
Daniel Im is the Lead Pastor of Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, AB. Daniel is a speaker and leader who has traveled to cities like New York, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Sydney, and Seoul to teach, consult, and coach. He co-hosts the New Churches Q&A Podcast as well as the IMbetween Podcast and is the author of You Are What You Do, No Silver Bullets and Planting Missional Churches.