Who Will You Be?

What do you think your tombstone will read at the end of your life? Wife, father, friend, employee?

What can you say will summarize your life? What if you could really only use one word? 

What would that one word be?

While you may think of your accolades or accomplishments, the reality is that the kind of person you are is likely what people will remember. Recall the famous saying: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

What do we remember when we think about those we’ve lost or seen pass on from this life, even outside our personal lives?

Have their accolades mattered if their character wasn’t positively memorable?

What do you want people to remember about you?

If we were sincere, there’d be something more we’d want to be known for than the temporary things we did on this Earth. We want to be known for the person we’ve become and how we make people feel.

There is this desire within the human heart to feel a sense of validation. We all want to be known and affirmed. We want to leave this life knowing we made some difference, whether we always admit it or not. Some people say life has no meaning, but if they took inventory of their lives, I’m sure they would find that they look for meaning and purpose all over.

In 1 Peter, the Word of God says:

22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25     but the word of the Lord endures forever.”

And this is the word that was preached to you.

1 Peter 1:22-25

The author, Peter, quotes from the book of Isaiah (40:6–8). This poem describes a glorious field of flowering grass that quickly withers and dries up. It’s a picture of human existence—intense but all too brief and fading. However, the poem doesn’t end there.

By contrast, it says the Word of the Lord remains forever. While we may come and go on this side of eternity, one generation after another, God’s truth remains the same. It never changes.

And what is God’s truth but the knowledge of Him and the ability to return to our original intent as human beings, glorifying and magnifying the glory of—not ourselves—but another’s, who will never fade?

In the first part of this letter, Peter argued that the Word of the Lord has now been revealed to his readers and, therefore, to us. Specifically, the good news—”the gospel”—that was preached, which we can believe, makes it possible for us to be born again.

Because the Word of the Lord remains forever, humans can, too. We can live on forever by believing the Word and placing our faith in Jesus alone to save, redeem, and define us.

In other words, we don’t need the money, fame, recognition, success, or notoriety to define us. If we call ourselves Christians, we have found a new way to live forever. What is it? Or who is it?

Our Savior, Jesus, is the answer.

Peter encouraged early Christians to push through rejection from the culture around them, the opposite of fame, in response to persecution, and he told them what we find in 1 Peter 1.

In our broken world, in 2024, we can cling to the same truth and seek God’s unfading glory. We can seek eternal glory from an eternal God whose glory never fades. We can live forever—but not in the way the world seeks to.

Again, what do you think your tombstone will read at the end of your life?

I have wished my life was more than it seems at times. I look at Instagram or Facebook and wish I had what seems like success and fame in the eyes of others. If I’m really honest with myself, all of that is enticing.

It has taken intentionality and allowing the Holy Spirit to transform and rewire me from the inside out. Instead of seeking the acceptance of others, He helps me to seek approval from only my God. Instead of hoping to be known as _____, He helps me seek only to be known as God’s daughter, who is submitted to and living for Him.

We who call ourselves Christians don’t have to be bound to or submit to the culture of fame around us. If we follow Jesus, we can truly live forever—beyond this life and into eternity, known and loved by our God, part of the redemption He has brought.

Practical Next Steps

Read: 1 Peter 1

Journal: Reflect on the places, people, and things in which you seek acceptance and approval. Is there anything God is asking you to replace with Himself?

Watch/Listen: Praises (Remix)

Reflection Questions

Reflect on these questions:

In what areas of your life do you find yourself seeking the approval of others?

What do you want to be known for in light of Jesus?

Let’s Pray Together

Father, help me to seek success only in your eyes. Where I look to others or to the world to define me, let you define me. Transform me daily into your likeness, and may I be known for my love for You. Amen.