The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9

I’m always intrigued by how people introduce another person. Often it’s just along the lines of what defines their relationship to the person doing the introducing (e.g. “This is Pam, my coworker…”). Other times it gets more descriptive (e.g. “This is Bill, a man of the Word…”). Often times, the way we are introduced has more to do with what the introducer values about us than who we actually are. (e.g. “This is Suzy, she prayed for my mother who got healed.”).

So a lot of the time, we don’t have much control over how we are introduced; and that introduction maybe be different than what we would prefer to be known as.

So I ask the question: who do you want to be, when people introduce you? What would you rather be that first impression? What would you like to be known for? If you could rewrite your profile on Facebook or some other social media, what would you want it to say about yourself that would set the people you meet on the right track to knowing who you really are?

It’s got to be True. I’m talking about things you could legitimately use as part of your profile. It’s got to be true; not “Hi, I’m Butch, the world-famous liar.” But, none the less, we have this image of ourselves that we want to communicate. Things we want people who meet us to know about us.

It’s got to be Real. It’s pretty typical human behavior to want to decide what parts of us we want people to know about and what parts are best…well…not on display. So we spin our image. But sooner or later people discover what we’re really all about.

So, it not only has to be true, it has to be real. As today’s verse points out, ‘the heart is deceitful’, and sometimes the one our hearts deceive the most is ourselves. Self-deception is real because the enemy is the master-counterfeiter, pumping counterfeit currency into the ‘Christian economy’ we call the church. And it happens often—but it doesn’t have to happen to us.

It’s got to be Intentional. That’s where point three comes in: It’s got to be true, and it’s got to be real in us. But it’s also got to be intentional. Today’s verse goes on to say, “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind” (v10).

So in order for us to not deceive ourselves, we need to invite the Lord to search our hearts and minds. That’s being intentional. God can make us real. In fact, that’s exactly what He wants to do. He didn’t send His Son to die for us so that we could be fakes for Him.

So if we want to change what we’re known for, it’s got to be true, and it’s got to be real in us, and it’s got to be intentional. Each of us is building our own profile every day. We need to live out the introduction we want others to see.

2017 is upon us. What will our profile look like a year from now?