September 14, 2021 

Who am I? 
A question always asked. 
A question so simple yet so hard to answer. 

Our perceived identity dictates our lifestyle. So who are we, really? 

Are you the “perfect child?”
The “most honorable” student?
The “best among the rest?”

Or maybe you are

the ignored one.
The unnoticed.
The chaff of this world. 

The world says, “Look around!”

We are only loved when we are useful, they say. We grind so much so we can feel valued and appreciated. We do our best to meet people’s standards and expectations to make us feel deserving of love. We hang on to our achievements (or try so hard to achieve something) to prove our worth, so it breaks us when we fail.

The world says, “Look at others.”

We consume too much social media and get into the trap of comparing ourselves. We think that our security comes from other people’s validation and are ensnared by the idea that our followers determine who we are. 

The world says, “Look inside of you!”

But when we look at ourselves, we often see hopelessness, emptiness, or our own lack. We feel inadequate and insecure—someone who’s only strong on the surface but broken beneath.

We hear many voices, but only one voice matters.

While the world says look around, look at others, or look inside of you, the Bible says, “Look to your Father.” 

“For you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us,
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O LORD, are our Father,
our Redeemer from old is your name.”

 Isaiah 63:16

Isaiah calls to God as Father, for God called Israel His children. He understood that they weren’t defined by the world! They looked around and they weren’t useful! They looked at others and saw their shortcomings! They looked inside and saw their own failures and disappointments. 

Isaiah ran to the Father in heaven—the LORD who has chosen them and is on their side. The Father who truly cares. God chose them! 

If God gives an identity, nothing can take that away! We are children of God through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Left to ourselves, we are sinners and rebels who deserve to be punished. But God, in His perfect love, sent Jesus Christ—the perfect Son—so we can be made perfect through Him! 

The One who held the oceans in His hand and measured off the heavens with His fingers—He is our Abba, Father!

This is who we are.

“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”

John 1:12