2516: I AM: As God Made Me, and as He Demands

No doubt you’ve heard phrases like “be yourself” or “live your truth,” but what if authenticity isn’t about comfort at all? George G explores the meaning of “I AM”—not as self-expression, but as self-responsibility—why maximizing your God-given abilities is a duty, not a preference, and how becoming who you are meant to be requires intention, urgency, and service. Get the I AM worksheet here:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w_MlwkJF4dGV-OQUtjKik7rYOe4HNB6AuB3Viac-Uso/edit?usp=sharing George’s newest book is available! Get your copy of The Meaningful Few here: https://amzn.to/4qA26X9 Feeling busy but unfulfilled? The Meaningful Few helps you identify what truly matters, eliminate distractions, and live with intention and clarity. Learn more here: MyMeaningfulFew.comYou can learn more about us at LifeBlood. Live, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook or you’d like to be a guest on the show, contact us at contact@LifeBlood. Live. Stay up to date by getting our monthly updates. Want to say “Thanks!” You can buy us a cup of coffee.https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifebloodGet your copy of The Purpose Book here:https://amzn.to/47Y2u98 You can get a free digital download of The Purpose Book here:https://moneyalignmentacademy.thinkific.com/enroll/2554435?price_id=3360279 Get our monthly updates here:https://george-grombacher.aweb.page/Thanks, as always for listening! If you got some value and enjoyed the show, please leave us a review here:​​https://ratethispodcast.com/lifebloodpodcastYou can learn more about us at LifeBlood. Live, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook or you’d like to be a guest on the show, contact us at contact@LifeBlood. Live. Stay up to date by getting our monthly updates. Want to say “Thanks!” You can buy us a cup of coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/lifebloodCopyright LifeBlood 2026.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:45Speaker 01

  We're living in this beautiful age of authenticity. And maybe it just feels like we are all looking for real and authentic more than we ever have before. Maybe this is just something that we've always probably done, and now we have a term that we've all agreed is how to express it, which is authenticity. We're supposed to be yourself, live your truth, follow your bliss. And like, "Just do it," they're great slogans, but unfortunately, I think all too often they're quietly excusing and tolerating drift. Because be yourself can really mean anything.

• 1:29Speaker 01

  It can mean do the best that you can, be the best version of you, or it can just mean, do whatever it is that you're doing, or do whatever it is that you want. And those are not the same thing at all. One, obviously, leads to a fulfilling and meaningful life, and the other could just mean it's a life that never gets off the ground, and it's a person who's just stuck, kind of going through the motions and going with the flow of life. And that's, I don't think, what it is that we're supposed to be doing. So today, I want to talk about a very old idea that cuts through, or can help to cut through, this modern mess, if it's okay to call it that. I think that it is. And those two words are "I am."

• 2:15Speaker 01

  When Moses asked God who he should say sent him, God doesn't give him his resume or talking points, a title, or any kind of a mission statement. He says, "I am," not "I was," not "I will be," just being itself. And then, without delay, God assigns Moses responsibility. Not comfort, not clarity on every step of the process, responsibility. And that order really matters. And here's how I hear it. "I am as God made me and as He demands." And that is certainly not permission to endlessly explore my feelings. It's a call to embrace your authentic self so you can carry your

• 2:59Speaker 01

  real responsibility. So it's a call to embrace you so you can really carry actual, meaningful responsibility in your life. Because you were made with certain abilities, certain tendencies, strengths, and burdens, and those aren't accidents. You didn't accidentally come with those. Those are assignments that were given to you. So I think it's a mistake to think about authenticity. It's not self-expression. Authenticity is self-management in service of what matters. Abraham Maslow said something that should be really unsettling to us. He

• 3:42Speaker 01

  said, "What a man can be, he must be." So, potential is not a personality trait. It's not some kind of a vibe. It's not something to admire that you yourself have. Potential is a moral obligation. So, when you don't use your abilities, you don't just lose. The people you could have served also lose. Your community loses. The humanity is just in general, people lose also. And that's why self-actualization feels so good when it's done right, because it's not indulgent. It's in alignment. It's living an aligned life, doing the work that you are meant to be doing.

• 4:28Speaker 01

  Most people, we don't fail because they aim too high. Most people fail because they try to be palatable. They try to be liked. They try to live lives that are inoffensive. Don't want to offend anybody. And in the process, they just become bystanders in their own lives. Because if you know what you're here on earth to do, and you refuse to act, you don't get peace. That's where quiet desperation lives. That's where quiet desperation comes from. You know that Thoreau quote that most men lead lives of quiet desperation. I am, when you're living that out, it looks more like this.

• 5:13Speaker 01

  You have fewer commitments, and you're taking those fewer commitments much more seriously. You have clear standards that you personally enforce. You operate with a sense of urgency that's not panic. You take a service approach without being a martyr. You stop asking, "What do I feel like doing?", and start asking, "Given who I am and what I've been given, what is required of me?" That's leadership. That's self-management. That's doing your best. God doesn't explain Himself. He reveals Himself, and then He calls people to move.

• 5:57Speaker 01

  I am is not an excuse to wait. It is the reason to act. And you don't need perfect clarity. You don't need anybody's permission. You don't need to become someone else. You need to become who you already are, fully, deliberately, and in service of what matters. I am is not permission to be comfortable. It's a command to be responsible. You're not confused. You're not hesitating. You already know what you're capable of. You already know where you're hiding. You already know what you've been given to carry. I am is not meant and does not soothe you. It summons you. To remain small, once you know your measure is not humility,

• 6:41Speaker 01

  it's refusal. So act, not loudly, not perfectly, but decisively. Become what you are, or be haunted by what you refuse to become. So that's pretty heavy, appreciate that, but you're strong enough to carry it. I've created a worksheet that goes along with everything that I just talked about. If you're interested in working through it, you can click on it in the notes of the show and you will get access to it. I also just wrote a book called The Meaningful Few: Designing a Life That Actually Works. You can get that on Amazon, a link to that also. And then you can go to mymeaningfulfew.com and get some additional resources to help you become who you are.

• 7:25Speaker 01

  And of course, do your part by doing your best.

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