A question we all ask ourselves. It ranks right up there with, "Why am I here?" and "What am I supposed to do?". It's not a question of identity as much as a question of purpose.
How we answer this question is important, and perhaps not as obvious as it may at first appear. For some, the answer is muddled and unclear, leading to confusion, misdirection, and a true identity crisis. For others, the answer they come up with is disappointing, leading to depression, self abuse, and a failure to live the productive life they are capable of.
Most of us have at least an idea of who we are, but I doubt many of us understand all of who we are. That's because we only see ourselves from our point of view.
The full picture of who we are is seen not only through our eyes, but the eyes of others as well.
Through the eyes of my family.
To my family I am a husband, a father, a son, a grandson, and a brother. I am an uncle, a nephew, and a cousin. Of course, as genealogy goes, I have many other relationships in my family, but you get my point. Depending on which family member you ask, who I am will vary according to where I fall in the family tree compared to them.
My identity, therefore, depends not only on where I stand, but where others stand as well. The view looks a whole lot different from over there, than it does right here. Who I am to my mother is much different than who I am to my wife, even though I am the same.
Do you get my point? I'm not only who I see me as; I'm also who others see me to be. That is a very, very important thought to keep in mind.
Through the eyes of my friends.
To some, I am one who comes to them for advice. To others, I am someone sought after for the same reason. Most often, those roles switch back and forth, depending on the question at hand. To some of my friends I am a soccer or softball player. To others I am a hunter and fisherman. Some see me as bold, while compared to others I am not.
Many of my friends are mutual friends with my wife, and they see us as a couple. Others hardly know my better half, if at all. Most of my friends know a little bit about me, but only a few know much more than that, and fewer still know me to any significant depth. Who I am to them is what they know about me.
Through the eyes of God.
I could go on and on about how I look to different people depending on my relationship to them and what they know about me, but I think you get my point. We look different to different people based on how they see us.
God, on the other hand, knows who we truly are.
This part of our identity, who we are in the eyes of God, is the most important of all. This determines our eternal destiny, and there is nothing more important than that.
Amazingly, who we are in God's eyes isn't about where we've been or what we've done. If that was the case, we'd all be seen by Him as sinners unworthy of His presence. God doesn't look at us that way, though.
God sees us as either His children, or lost orphans He wants to claim. You see, we are either His children because we have Jesus Christ as our Savior, and are therefore part of His family, or we are spiritually fatherless. If the latter, God desires nothing more than for us to accept His invitation to be His son or daughter.
No matter who I am to anyone else, to God I am His child.
As long as I know that, I know exactly who I am.
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