We are all searching for our identity. This journey begins when we are young children . . . we look to the people that love us, investigate the environment around us, pursue the activities that excite us, participate in the educational opportunities provided to us, and internalize the belief system that is modeled for us . . . all in an effort to define our personhood and distinguish ourselves as unique. People, culture, passions, worldview, education, experience, etc. all shape who we become and how we engage the world.

But what happens when we allow one aspect of our life to define us; when we allow one role to become the sum total of who we are? What are the results of allowing a good role, a noble calling, or a genuine passion to become the basis of our value and the foundation on which we place our hope? What if in our endeavor to find our identity we fail to maintain a proper view of ourselves? What if we don’t fully acknowledge a God who is unchanging and infallible?

The challenges I have faced in finding my identity have looked different throughout the course of my life. However, the constant and recurring theme, regardless of my stage of life, has been that when I seek to identify myself outside of Christ, I am left wanting. When I have placed the weight of my hope in someone that I love, an education or profession that I am pursuing, an athletic skill or physical ability that I possess, or my outward appearance, I have been left hurt, unfulfilled, disappointed, discontent, or lonely.

The good gifts that I have in this life were never meant to carry the full weight of providing or affirming my identity. Yet time and time again I have selfishly placed the weight of that burden on people that I love, goals and expectations that I have set, and experiences that I have had. At different times in my life, I have placed more value in the role that God has called me to than in the God who called me to that role in the first place. I have allowed myself to believe the lie that the Devil whispers in my ear . . . Does God really love you unconditionally? Is this really all there is? Don’t you deserve more?

That is how the Devil works. He is cunning and quiet. He enters through my fears, insecurities, and doubts, and then he slowly works toward eroding my trust in God. He tempts me to question what my gracious God has planned for me. He invites me to forge my own path. He tempts me to fulfill my roles through my own strength. And sadly, far too often I have done just that. I have demonstrated pride through discipline, hard work, skill, or knowledge. I have expressed pride through low self-esteem, self-doubt, insecurity, or anxiety. Regardless of how I have expressed my pride, I have expressed that I think too highly and too often of myself.

Possessing a proper view of myself requires the truth of God’s Word and the work of Christ. Tim Keller said it well when he summarized the Good News . . . “The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” A proper view of ourselves coupled with a proper view of God, a God who (as stated so simply and profoundly by Sally Loyd-Jones) “loves his children with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always, and Forever Love,” is where we can finally find our true identity. It is in this Truth that we are able to exhibit humble confidence in who we are. We need to remind ourselves daily that the roles and relationships that exist in our lives are a means by which God reveals himself to us. These good and tangible gifts allow us to know Him more AND express who He created us to be . . . people who are deeply loved and of great value!