“I am not trying to do what I want, but only what he who sent me wants.” John 5:30 (GNT)

Jesus lived his life under constant stress. People were always following him—wanting him to heal them or teach them, or worse, trying to trap him and even kill him. Yet, if you look at his life in the Bible, he didn’t seem to be bothered by it. He never even seemed to be in a hurry. He handled all the pressure with peace.

I want to learn how to do that. Don’t you? Over the next few days, we’ll look together at secrets to stress management from the life of Jesus. If you do these things, your stress will go down and your joy and fulfillment will go up.

First, to reduce your stress, you need to know who you are. Your family, peers, and culture will try to make you into somebody you’re not if you don’t know who God made you to be. And a confused identity causes stress.

Jesus knew exactly who he was. He defined himself over and over again, saying things like, “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6 NIV), “I am the door” (John 10:9 ESV), and “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35 NIV).

When you don’t know who you are, you tend to copy and compare. You try to be someone you’re not—or you feel inferior because you’re measuring yourself against someone else.

But God made you to be you—with your own unique set of strengths and weaknesses. There’s nobody else like you in the whole world. You have a unique thumbprint, footprint, eyes, and voice. God never makes copies. You’re it!

Once you know who you are, you also need to know who you’re living for. When you don’t know who you’re living for, you try to please everybody. That leads to enormous stress because no one can please everyone!

Jesus knew who he was living for: “I am not trying to do what I want, but only what he who sent me wants” (John 5:30 GNT).  

When you’re living for an audience of One, that simplifies life—and greatly reduces your stress—because your only job is to do what God made you to do.

Do you want to live like Jesus, with less stress and more peace? Know who you are and who you’re living for!