Define Yourself

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sinnerdexter

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Once you defined yourself, I assume that you believe in your definition and you’ll be faithful to it and manifest its reality.

Any other definition is most welcome.
 
I am not sure what you mean. Some would say that we are the entirety of all the definition s that you have written. I define my self in light of the greatest possible good. In other words i define my self in relation to God. I feel that i ought to define my self according to the value that God has given to me, rather than the value that people give to me. I am a creation of pure eternal love. This is ultimately how i define my self.
 
All of the above. I’m a mutable creature, preferring to think I’m beyond mutability, but, ya know -somehow I’ve never gotten the immutable thing down…yet. 🤷
 
MindOverMatter2 said:
I am not sure what you mean. Some would say that we are the entirety of all the definition s that you have written. I define my self in light of the greatest possible good. In other words i define my self in relation to God. I feel that i ought to define my self according to the value that God has given to me, rather than the value that people give to me. I am a creation of pure eternal love. This is ultimately how i define my self.
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I agree 100%.

We ARE in relationship with God whether we are consciencous of it or not. Our sense of this primary relationship may be positive, negative or indifferent.

How we see this relationship sets the conditions for how we act. How we act is how people know us.

My defintion, for voting, would be past, present, AND future because I am HERE to do God’s Will for the love of God and all that He has made me. I do my best to cooperate with His Will for me.
 
All of the above. I am what I am today because of my past experiences, I am what I am presently because of my relationship with God and how I choose to live out my faith values and beliefs today, and I am what I will be in the future as I pray and discern about God’s will for my life and about the decisions I will make tomorrow
 
How can you define yourself based on your future. We don’t even know if we’ll wake up in the morning.
 
Desertsailor said:
How can you define yourself based on your future. We don’t even know if we’ll wake up in the morning.
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If you have a hope at who you might become, that hope makes up a part of who you are. Yes, it is far easier to make generalizations about your character and personality based on trends in your past and present, but your character is still partly comprised of that resolution for change, and therefore to a certain degree, your resolutions and hopes for the future are added to the total definition of yourself.
 
jpbathon said:
If you have a hope at who you might become, that hope makes up a part of who you are. Yes, it is far easier to make generalizations about your character and personality based on trends in your past and present, but your character is still partly comprised of that resolution for change, and therefore to a certain degree, your resolutions and hopes for the future are added to the total definition of yourself.
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It would be imprecise to place one’s desires for the future into the category of the future.

The desires and goals we have for the future are in the present. Just as the Goals we all had as children are in the past.

Just because we have a goal or aspiration now does not mean we shall have it in the future, or that we shall in any way actualise it.

So, whilst our resolutions for the future add to the definition of ourselves, as these resolutions happen in the past or present; we can only say we are defined by these; and not the future.
 
JohnDamian said:
It would be imprecise to place one’s desires for the future into the category of the future.

The desires and goals we have for the future are in the present. Just as the Goals we all had as children are in the past.

Just because we have a goal or aspiration now does not mean we shall have it in the future, or that we shall in any way actualise it.

So, whilst our resolutions for the future add to the definition of ourselves, as these resolutions happen in the past or present; we can only say we are defined by these; and not the future.
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Would you not agree that we are defined by the end for which we were created, and that we exist as such only in respect of that end?
 
MindOverMatter2 said:
Would you not agree that we are defined by the end for which we were created, and that we exist as such only in respect of that end?
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I would say that there are certainly more than one single way to define.

It is true that objectivelly we are defined by the combination of our acheivements and influences - however we do not exist only insofar as we acheive our ends, nor do we acheive solley in regards to any (speculated) purpose. The magnitude and diversity of acheivement itself is enough to warrent a recognition of the absurdity in trying to solicit a complete purpose; and to illustrate how arbitrary it would be to define singular ends as the sole goal of life.

For example, whilst we can say that essentially the End Goal of all Christians is to be saints, we cannot say that this sole goal is independant from other acheivements or ends, so whilst it has the highest priority; we do not exist only in respect to this end.

Furthermore, constructing objective definitions of in general existances is somewhat irrelevant to how a person defines themself (Past & Present experiences & knowlege).
 
JohnDamian said:
For example, whilst we can say that essentially the End Goal of all Christians is to be saints, we cannot say that this sole goal is independant from other acheivements or ends, so whilst it has the highest priority; we do not exist only in respect to this end.
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You seem to misunderstand me. Your argument does not follow theologically. God is the end for which we were created; in general we were created to serve the nature and will of God, regardless of the fact that we can serve God in many ways throughout our life time. That is the only reason we exist, and thus my existence is defined in respect of that end.
 
MindOverMatter2 said:
You seem to misunderstand me. Your argument does not follow theologically. God is the end for which we were created; in general we were created to serve the nature and will of God, regardless of the fact that we can serve God in many ways throughout our life time. That is the only reason we exist, and thus my existence is defined in respect of that end.
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Yes, you are defining yourself in regards to the end to which you are created; however you are defining yourself in this way because in your past and present you were educated and experienced in such a way as to come to see this. However, you are not defining yourself based upon the future; you are defining yourself based upon what you think will be the future - in the present.
 
Defining yourself is tricky. Buddhists, Shamen, and many other religious and philosophical groups spend much time trying to understand who they are. Not only does a definition include what you have been, what you are now and what you will be, it also includes potentiality. Even if you have a set past, your potential to have created other outcomes must be included in this definition as well. This means who you are is not necessarily what you are here to do, or Gods Purpose. (sorry mindovermatter and john damian)

The end all be all of it is, without a complete grasp of who you are, the only way you can define yourself is through description which is an incomplete definition.
 
JohnDamian said:
Yes, you are defining yourself in regards to the end to which you are created; however you are defining yourself in this way because in your past and present you were educated and experienced in such a way as to come to see this. However, you are not defining yourself based upon the future; you are defining yourself based upon what you think will be the future - in the present.
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How we come to that knowledge is subjective and is contained within time references. I agree.

I was speaking from a purely objective/ontological frame of reference. In other words I define my self according to my ontological purpose.
 
MindOverMatter2 said:
How we come to that knowledge is subjective and is contained within time references. I agree.

I was speaking from a purely objective/ontological frame of reference. In other words I define my self according to my ontological purpose.
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You are correct in the widest of senses, I was merely trying to develop the question in regards to the “options” given by the original poster; which indicated temporal referancing and not objective ontological or philosophical conceptions.
 
i concur with john. the OP’s origional concept of what can define a person is flawed.
 
To define is to impose limits. It is impossible to define ourselves except in relation to God because we are made in the image of God Who is infinite and undefinable.
 
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