Who Am I? Discovering Your True Identity

Marie
1 day ago
3 min read

“Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12 NIV)

Coming into the knowledge of your true identity is one of the most important discoveries you will ever make. Many people think they know who they are because they have found peace, achieved financial success, or gained fame. But when asked the crucial question, “Who are you?” most of us default to our professions, nationalities, or social roles.

Yet our true identity goes beyond these surface-level labels. It is anchored in God, the One who created us. From the very beginning, He defined us as His image-bearers: “So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27 NIV)

But what does it mean to be an image-bearer of God? We see a clear picture of this in the life of Jesus.

Jesus: The Perfect Child

When Jesus walked the Earth, He didn’t struggle with identity confusion. He knew exactly who He was because the Father declared it:

“This is my Son, whom I love; with Him, I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17 NIV)

Jesus didn’t just carry the title "Son of God." He lived it. Biblically, a "son" wasn’t just someone related by blood; it was someone who reflected the character and nature of their father. That's why we sometimes hear of children being disowned by their parents, in certain cultures, when they make decisions that the parents feel do not reflect their values.

So when the Father called Jesus “Son,” He was saying, “This is the one who reflects Me.”

Jesus understood this completely. He often said, “I only do what I see my Father doing.” (John 5:19 NIV) His words, actions, and attitudes all mirrored the nature of God. This is why He could even confront religious leaders, telling them that although they claimed to be Abraham’s children, they were actually reflecting the nature of their true spiritual father—the devil—because they chose to lie just like him (John 8:44).

What This Means for Us

So what about us? Before we are parents, spouses, entrepreneurs, Africans, students, Americans, or anything else, our truest identity is that we are children of God.

And as God’s children, our lives should reflect His nature. Just as Jesus mirrored the Father, we are called to reflect His love, truth, compassion, and holiness. But here’s the reality: sin temporarily disrupted our ability to live out this true identity. It distorted our understanding of who we are.

Yet through Jesus, we have been restored. When we accept Him as our Savior, we are not just forgiven, we are reconnected to our true identity as children of God. “Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12 NIV)

It means:

There are habits we may have been comfortable with before that we can no longer indulge in.
There are words we used to speak that we now avoid because we represent God.
There are ways we used to see ourselves that no longer define us.

Knowing God is Knowing Yourself

If we want to live a life of purpose, we cannot anchor our identity in anything or anyone other than the Lord. Everything else can change, including our jobs, our relationships, and our appearances, but He never changes.

That’s why knowing Him should be the greatest pursuit of our lives. The more we know Him, the more we understand ourselves. He is the only one who can fully reveal the gifts, talents, and callings He placed within us.

I talk more about this in my book Stolen Identity, where I dive deeper into the journey of reclaiming your true identity in Christ.