Reporter Sam Rubin is learning the hard way that people are very protective of their identity after confusing Samuel L. Jackson for another actor. From the BBC News website:

Actor Samuel L Jackson has scolded a US TV host who mistook him for fellow movie star Laurence Fishburne.

KTLA reporter Sam Rubin began an interview with the actor by asking about his recent Super Bowl commercial.

He was referring to an advert for the new Kia sedan – in which Fishburne reprised his role from The Matrix.

“We don’t all look alike! We may all be black and famous but we don’t all look alike,” said Jackson. “There’s more than one black guy doing a commercial.”

Sauel L. Jackson Laurence Fishburne Comparsisson

Confusing the two actors was a foolish mistake, but your identity is so much more than who or what people think you look like. Your true identity is hidden in God. We know who we are because of what He has done for us and in us. Knowing who you are helps in moments when others make presumptions about you, your race, or if they go so far as to call you unkind things. This is not to say that you become a doormat for abuse, but inside you there’s a resolve that God has created you and no-one and nothing will hinder what your future holds. Peter sums up our reactions and attitudes in this verse:

1 Peter 2:9 (NLT)
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

There are many situations in life that can cause us embarrassment or even lead us to want to seek revenge, but as believers we have to learn to ‘burn our ploughs’. When Elisha was called by Elijah, he had to give up his past in order to move forward (1 Kings 19:19-21). If we don’t burn our ploughs, then we will miss opportunities to be salt and light to others.

Abraham Lincoln said, “The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend”. One of the keys to this is forgiveness. If we refuse to forgive the mistakes of others and hold on to the hurt they cause we can become bitter and lose our joy. Offence is a choice; choose not to be offended.