Building your Legacy. Pillar 3 – Persona
By Pastor George Lehman
“Don’t try to be somebody else – you are who you are, and what you are, because it will eventually come to light.
Ephesians 4:22-23 (NIV) – 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds.
Jesus to many is just like an add on extra.
Matthew 7:16 (NIV) – By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?
Jesus is saying: What comes out of your life does not represent Me.
“The position a person occupies in the world depends on the quality and quantity of the service he renders (aanbied) plus the mental attitude which he relates to others.” – Andrew Carnegie
Persona: A role or character adopted by an author – It’s how others perceive your character
We are called to take up the Character of our author Jesus (Hebrews 12:2)
None of us can build a legacy without our Persona or our Personality.
It’s how you portray yourself to others. It’s who you are!
Always be yourself, express yourself, live out your faith. Don’t go out and look for a successful personality (Persona) and try duplicate it!!!
It is a combination of your gifts and talents, preferences, thoughts, and attitude.
We have been given the inner Persona of Jesus through the indwelling Holy Spirit, when people meet us do they encounter His persona in and through us?
1 John 2:6 – “Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.
In fact, your persona determines your tendency to act in a certain way in any given situation.
Proverbs 27:19 (NIV) – As water reflect the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.
It’s like your default way of interacting with the world.
Are you loud? Quiet? Helpful? Irritable?
Do you act like a grumpy old man?
Are you a leader or a follower?
This all comes from your Persona.
Some people use their persona to hide who they really are.
But There will be no consistency between your Inner and Outer life. The real you will always come out.
WARNING:
Ephesians 5:15 (NIV) – Be very careful, then how you live-not as unwise but as wise.
However, a man/woman of integrity with a healthy persona doesn’t wear a mask. I’m open to be who Christ called me to be!
Their persona portrays who they really are all the time, no matter the situation in which they find themselves.
“You were born an Original don’t die a Copy.” – Masson
God makes all the difference; He purposefully created and gifted you to be YOU.
Your real strength is in Christ not in some manufactured personality that someone wants you to adopt. You can dress like superman, but you are not superman.
As a legacy minded person, you need to live out the persona God intended you to have.
Romans 8:29 (NIV) – For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Attitude and character are two critical aspects of our persona.
Fortunately for us, both of these respond well to training and personal discipline.
1 Timothy 4:7-8 (NIV) – 7Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather train yourself to be godly. 8For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
The best way to begin working on your attitude is realize it needs changing.
Many Christians just carry on with a bad attitude and never really bother to change. It becomes a weak spot in your legacy.
As believers in Jesus, we have a lot of reasons to have a good attitude.
Oswald Sanders wrote: “Every Christian is under obligation to be the best he can be for God.”
Why be an average poor slack, lazy child of God? When you can be great!
As legacy minded people we need to take character development seriously. Not any old lifestyle will do.
How do you act around other people?
Are you likeable, friendly, kind, generous and positive?
OR
Are you difficult to talk with, negative, unfriendly, fault finding and always complaining, grumpy and miserable?
If you from part of the second group; “Then by now you should know it’s time to change.”
No matter how bad your attitude or character may be; You can do better!
Tragedy and crisis hit all of us
Your persona will either rise up to keep you pressing on or crumble under the pressure.
The fact is that you will get hit, but the question is: “What is your plan when you do?” (When you squeeze an Orange, you don’t get tomato juice)
None of us can turn back the clock or erase the past.
However, God gives us a brand-new start every day.
Lamentations 3: 21-23 (Amp) -21But this I recall and therefore have I hope and expectation: 22it is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving- kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. 23They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.
1 John 1:9 (NIV) – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Your persona is a necessary pillar that supports your legacy.
1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV) – But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Proverbs 14:12 (NIV) – There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
Prayer, purity and persona built on Jesus will develop a solid unshakable lasting legacy.
