Have you ever asked yourself 'who am I?'
Perhaps the question should be: when have you asked this? Because sooner or later everyone asks the question 'Who am I?'
Why
So why do we ask this question? It's like it has been ingrained into every human so it must be important. People can spend their whole lives searching for the answer to this age-old question.
I believe we are meant to be able to answer this question and until we do it's like there is a hole inside of us waiting to be filled. I can't tell you who you are or fill the hole; but I can tell you where to look.
Where I've looked
I spent my youth trying to find out who I was; trying to find my identity. I looked to other people to tell me who I was—family, friends, women—and I was never satisfied with the answer. This is because people can only tell you who they think you are.
I looked for my identity in work, trying to feel good about myself. Because I had a job and was earning money I thought I was going somewhere... but that didn't hold the answers I was looking for.
I ended up giving up and chasing highs through drugs and alcohol. I got to the point where I'd finally felt like giving up. Then, just when I'd come to the end of myself, that's where God stepped in and gave me the answer.
Where to look
I believe that the only satisfying answer to who we are is found with the Creator. We should be looking to God and his word (the Bible) to find the answers.
It is when we find him that we truly find out who we are. He wants us to search and seek after him. Matthew chapter 7, verse 7 ('Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you').
We are complete in him and without him the question will not get answered, the hole inside of us will not get filled and the door will remain closed.
Who I am
I am a child of God (1 John chapter 3, verse 1), I am forgiven by God (1 John chapter 1, verse 9), and I am complete in him (Colossians chapter 2, verse 1). Who we are is who God says we are; He is our Father, our daddy and the only one who truly knows who we are.
Words to live by
To look to him is to find yourself within; to look without is to remain in doubt.
Shane Rowney lives in Tweed Heads NSW, Australia. He is currently studying Ministry
Shane Rowney's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/shane-rowney.html