READ: ROMANS 6:6-14; 2 CORINTHIANS 5:17-21; GALATIANS 3:26-29

Who am I? I wrestled with this question quite a bit during my teen years. I often felt lost, and I sought to define myself through lots of different things: friends, hobbies, how I dressed, my athletic ability, my looks, the size on my clothes…the list could go on and on. And, from conversations I had with friends, I knew I wasn’t the only one.

As teens, we struggle with identity so deeply that it can feel like an issue only teens deal with. As adults, we like to pretend that, just because we’ve reached a certain age, we’ve figured out who we are. But I’ll let you in on a little secret: we haven’t. No matter how many trips we’ve made around the sun, we’re still striving to define ourselves. Adults might do it a little differently—through parenthood, college diplomas, careers, houses, salaries, and so on—but we’re still doing it. All of humanity is on a constant search for identity, and it often feels futile.

And you know why? Because the things of this world will always fail to satisfy us. No matter where we search for our identity, we will never find it until we realize that, ultimately, we can only find our identity in God. He is the only One who can accurately define us. When we look to the person and work of Jesus, we find both who we are now and who we are called to be.

In Jesus, God showed us how much He loves us. Through Jesus’s death on the cross and His resurrection, He made the way for us to become His children. When God looks at us, He sees Jesus’s righteousness—not our sins or anything the world tries to say about us. We are completely forgiven. And we are new creations, called to be like Him and free to follow His good ways through the work of the Holy Spirit! So, the next time you feel lost and wonder who you are, look to Jesus. Your identity is secure in Him. • Alissa Griffin

• How do you tend to define yourself? What things do you consider important to your identity? Are there any things about yourself you either wish were different, or you hope never change?

• How do those things line up with what God says about you? Consider taking a moment to talk to Him about this, telling Him about whatever comes to mind and asking Him to help you learn to see yourself more and more as He sees you.

• What would you say to a friend struggling to define their identity?

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (CSB)