WHO AM I?

Trevor Lawrence is without a doubt the most famous teen in the country. Despite being a freshman, with his incredible talent and poise, he led his college, Clemson, to an undefeated football season, culminating in a championship. More remarkable is the fact that he chooses not to be primarily defined as a football superstar.

“Football’s important to me, obviously, but it’s not my life. It’s not the biggest thing in my life. I would say my faith is. That just comes from knowing who I am outside of that. No matter how big the situation is, it’s not really going to define me. I put my identity in who Christ thinks I am and who I know He says I am….so at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what people think about me or how good they think I play. That’s definitely been a big thing for me, in my situation, just knowing that and having confidence in that.”

The question of ‘who am I?’ or identity is critical to the output that follows from our lives. The identity that we eventually form arises from multiple factors- our upbringing, our talents, our circumstances, our core beliefs and also the influence of others around us. And among all the multiple things that define us, we need to choose that which is most important to give us a primary identity. This identity then takes a dominant effect on all we do and think, dwarfing all else. If you are a researcher, your primary outlook is to discover new things. As a sportsperson, you aim to win championships. If as a college student, your primary identity is to educate yourself, you put in the effort to get good grades. On the other hand, if college is an opportunity to party and have a good time, you do that.

However every identity you take upon yourself has limitations, the reason being that primarily, we are spiritual beings and the spirit has to be oriented if the mind and body needs to be set in order. And so while we may have peripheral secondary identities, all of that need to be held together by our core spiritual identity. And no other identity than that which Christ gives us -as God’s children and coheirs of the eternal kingdom, can satisfy and stabilize us. 

‘—-God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, The Spirit who calls out, “Abba Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.’(Galatians 4: 4-7)

Listen to what Jeannie Cunnion writes in response to Trevor’s statement of faith and the issue of identity crisis people struggle with,

“If you’re a parent of a teen you’re likely familiar with the escalating anxiety epidemic among our students. In fact, in 2016 the American College Health Association found that 62 percent of students reported feeling “overwhelming anxiety” in the past year, up from 50 percent in 2011. In other words, if we don’t get more intentional about giving our kids a firm foundation of faith on which to build their self-worth and identity, we are only going to see this statistic rise.

The primary message our children receive is that they’d better be the best at everything, and this leaves them afraid to reveal their inadequacies and insecurities — hiding behind the best version of themselves. They never feel like they’re doing quite enough, and the pressure to keep up and pretend like they’re perfectly pulling life off is killing them. They are searching for significance in their success, and when they don’t succeed like they hoped they would, they feel like failures. They feel worthless.

What Trevor Lawrence seems to understand is that our search for significance in anything or anyone other than Jesus will always leave us longing for more. It — whatever it is — will never be enough. From our youngest days to our dying days, we will relentlessly chase more.”

Take a moment to think what defines you as a person; what is your core identity? And without a doubt, when that is set in order, all else falls into place. 

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