How to Be the Person God Needs You to Be

Jessica Brodie Award-winning Christian Novelist and Journalist
Updated Jan 13, 2023

I used to think the characters in Bible stories were superheroes – almost perfect. To me, they were so noteworthy, good, honorable, or special that it was no wonder they achieved a lasting legacy in the pages of God’s holy word, the Bible.

But even a cursory reading of the Bible quickly tells us otherwise. Other than Jesus, who is actually both God and man, there’s not a single human being who ever walked this earth who is perfect. Every person in the Bible is flawed and falls far short of holiness, no matter how many pages are devoted to them.

Take King David, referred to as “a man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22). He was an adulterer who had his best friend killed so he could marry the man’s wife. Abraham was a deceiver (Genesis 20), Jacob a cheat (Genesis 27), and Moses a doubter who didn’t get to set foot in the Promised Land (Numbers 20).

But there is a way to overcome our all-too-human flaws and step up in faith to be far better than we are on our own, and God shows us how throughout Scripture.

Here, let’s take a look at the Bible to answer how to be the person God needs you to be.

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1. Ask for Help

It seems so simple, but often, the hardest thing to do when we are in need is to ask for help. But over and over again, God shows us how His people turned to Him—and He answered.

For example, the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for many years, forced to endure harsh labor and other cruelty (Exodus 1-2). Finally, their oppression grew too much for them.

“The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God,” we’re told in Exodus 2:23.

God heard their groaning and grew concerned for them. His response was to send them His prophet, Moses, who led them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land.

In short, they asked for help, and God came to the rescue.

Many years later, God selected a king for His people: David. But David didn’t know how to be the man God needed him to be. He loved God and sought Him, and he came from a good family—his father was Jesse, part of the tribe of Judah. But he was the youngest of eight brothers, and a lowly shepherd. He didn’t know the first thing about being a king.

And indeed, the days after his anointing were incredibly difficult. The current king, Saul, was jealous of him and tried to have him killed. Even after Saul died and David took the throne, unrest and bitter warfare surrounded him.

David’s response mirrored that of his people back in Egypt: He cried out to God for help, and God came to the rescue.

The psalms record many of David’s heartfelt pleas for assistance. One of them, Psalm 86:11, is especially humbling: “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”

Over and over, David circled back to God—when he was weak, when he went astray, and God took care of him.

Much later, the Bible gives us yet another example of someone who was sinking—literally—but then cried out to God for help. And once again, God came to the rescue.

In Matthew 14, Jesus’s disciples were all in a boat without him when they saw him in the distance, walking on the lake. While terrified, Jesus reassured them it was Him and invited Peter to walk out of the water toward Him.

“‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” (Matt 14:29-30).

Immediately, Jesus did indeed save him.

The message is clear: God loves us. He wants to help us. All we have to do is ask for help.

Photo credit: Unsplash/Daniel Jensen

stack of bibles outdoors in wildflower field

2. Rely on Scripture

The Bible also gives us another method for how to live in alignment with God and be the person God created us to be: Read His holy word.

See, reading the Bible helps us understand who God is, how much God loves us, and how to live a life in line with His ways.

And God’s words are powerful. Indeed, they are what Jesus chose to use when He modeled for us how to overcome temptation.

In the Gospel of Matthew, we read how Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted. After He’d fasted 40 days and nights, the devil came to Him, tempting Him three times: with food, with pride, and with earthly riches.

Each time, Jesus countered that temptation by quoting Scripture.

When the devil told Jesus to tell the stones to become bread, Jesus replied, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).

When the devil told Jesus to throw Himself down so the angels could rescue Him, Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Matthew 4:7).

And when the devil promised to give Jesus all the splendor in the world, Jesus replied, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’” (Matthew 4:10).

Later, in Ephesians 6, the apostle Paul tells us that God’s Holy Word is so powerful that it is a weapon against evil. As Paul writes, we are to “take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).

It also provides clarity. Psalm 119:105 says God’s word is “a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

There is power, strength, and wisdom in Scripture.

3. Surrender to God

Finally, we see the last key way we can be who God wants us to be: by surrendering our will and turning ourselves over to His sovereign rule.

In His Ten Commandments, God tells us He is a jealous God and wants us to have no other gods before Him, nor are we to craft an image that we worship (Exodus 20:3-5). God desires us to love Him and Him alone—and other people in His name.

Indeed, Jesus reminds us of this in His response to a legal expert in Matthew 22. The man had asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment in the Law.

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments’” (Matthew 22:37-40).

When we put God first, that means first. We surrender our own will and desires and do what He will have us do.

Jesus modeled that for us when He accepted a painful crucifixion to pay the debt for our sins. After the Last Supper, Jesus retreated to the Garden of Gethsemane with some of the disciples to pray. In anguish, He poured His heart out to God, pleading, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

Surely, He didn’t want to be nailed to a cross, suffer publicly, and die a tortuous death, but He surrendered to God’s will. And in doing so, He not only became our savior, but was resurrected to God’s right hand.

No one is perfect. We all fall short. But as we can see in the Bible, we can come closer to the person God intends for us to be. We must ask for help, rely on His Holy Word, and surrender to His will.

That is what living in full alignment with God looks like.

Jessica Brodie is an award-winning Christian novelist, journalist, editor, blogger, and writing coach and the recipient of the 2018 American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award for her novel, The Memory Garden. She is also the editor of the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, the oldest newspaper in Methodism. Her newest release is an Advent daily devotional for those seeking true closeness with God, which you can find at https://www.jessicabrodie.com/advent. Learn more about Jessica’s fiction and read her faith blog at http://jessicabrodie.com. She has a weekly YouTube devotional and podcast. You can also connect with her on Facebook,Twitter, and more. She’s also produced a free eBook, A God-Centered Life: 10 Faith-Based Practices When You’re Feeling Anxious, Grumpy, or Stressed