Message
Today's topic is a question you must be conscious of. in today's Bible reading, Jesus asked His disciples whom people said that He was. He wasn't confused about His identity; He knew who He was, but He was concerned about how people perceived Him. You must be conscious of how people perceive you too. People will only relate with you based on what they think about you and not what you think about yourself.
When my father in the Lord was alive, company executives would come to him for his opinion whenever they needed to hire staff for their company. They would say things like, "Sir, Brother so and so in your church has applied for a role in our company, what do you think about him?" Sometimes, he would cleverly reply, "That brother? Well, he says he is a Christian. "However, when they ask about someone who is truly born again, he will say, "That brother is a Christian. "There is a difference between who you claim to be and who you really are.
There are two kinds of people whose perception of you, you must take seriously. The first are people who know you but are not in your inner circle. They may not be close to you, but they are observant. They can build a perception about you from the things you say and do. Their perception may not be true, but as far as they are concerned, that is the true you. Therefore, you should endeavour not to make a mistake that will give them a wrong impression of you.
The second set of people are those in your inner circle. In today's Bible reading, the fellow who knew the real identity of Jesus was one of the people in His inner circle-Simon Peter. This tells us clearly that those who know Us the best are the ones closest to us. Who does your spouse say you are? What about your children? These people know you more than anyone else, and their opinion must be very valuable to you. I have always said it, the reason some ministers' children are wayward is because they know who their parents are. They hear them preach one thing on the altar but see them do Something else at home. This confuses them and draws them far from the God their parents claim to serve. You Can pretend to people outside, but you cannot pretend to your family members.