The Chicken or the Egg

I sometimes skim through blogs I haven't bookmarked and later am not even sure where all I have been; and this week I went to one that posed a question. When I read it, I thought it was something to think about but later it stayed with me and I thought on it more. Unfortunately because of how I found it (off Sacred Ordinary's links if you want to go hunting), I can't give anyone credit for it; and since I am paraphrasing the thought as I understood it, maybe they'd not want credit. Here it is--

Does who you are influence more what you will do or is it the other way around, and what you do makes you become who you are?

The author of the blog had one opinion in answer to evidently a comment in her/his blog where the writer had a different belief. Since I was in skim mode, I think the blog writer believed what you do had the most influence and the commenter had said it was who you are.

It's a chicken or an egg situation and probably can't be proven, but I believe it's what you do that makes the most difference and you can change who you are with your actions-- to the good or bad. If you believe in truth, be truthful and whether you have all your life had a problem with lying, you will become someone who is truthful. On the other hand, that first little lie can slide you into a place where you become someone you never dreamed you'd be. I think you see that in politics with some who started out seeming to be honorable people but they chose actions wrongly and became someone they probably never dreamed they'd be.

I think looking at our actions is very important to being the person we want to be. And yes, the Bible says our attitude is more important than what we do in terms of sin, but I believe what we do, as an act of will, can change our attitude and have proven it to myself various times on at least small things. Now did I desire to change who I was because of who I was on a deeper level or... That's the part you can't prove one way or the other.

So any opinions... chicken or egg?