Why are you the way you are?

Why are you the way you are? Has anyone ever asked you this question? Have you stopped and thought about it before?

Perhaps some of your features or personality traits you inherited straight from your parents. Maybe they are easy to blame for your hot temper or goofy sense of humor.

But we all know that different experiences we face in life help to shape us. They grow us. They change us. I can often look at someone in my life and perhaps not understand why they deal with things differently than me, or have an issue that I don't, or are tempted in ways I've never been. But I can also look at my own life. I can see where I'm skeptical and if I'm in tuned to it, can point myself back to exactly why. I can see my temptations and know exactly where and how they started. I can admit I have a hard time in a certain area, and can trace it back to the reason.

Why am I the way I am? Life made me this way. People made me this way. I learned to be this way.

But wait? Do we have to be defined by our past experiences? Does a single event have to create the same outcome every time? Someone betrays us - we stop trusting. We lose a job, and we begin to think that we can't take care of ourselves. Someone sins against us, and we think the scars it caused will always be visible. So we live a closed up life full of hiding. We go through life only feeling half the happiness we could be feeling, because our past is chained to our leg and we are dragging it behind us. Does this sound familiar?

I know this question is a normal one for people to ask or perhaps think about others. Why are they the way they are? It may be said with a little bit of an attitude at times, but I think it's also just normal curiosity. It can also be a question filled with compassion. But honestly, I don't want people to ask this about me even if it's in a compassionate way. Not unless they are wondering how I became so selfless, giving, compassionate, filled with joy, loving, or Christ like.

So, am I using my past negative experiences to help me become better? Or am I letting the past drag behind me and make me bitter? I have a long way to go. I know that people will look at me and they will see lack in all of these areas. But the goal remains the same. We can be overcomers through the strength that the Father provides. And then when others see us and wonder how we became who we are, all glory will go to Him.