Defined: Understanding Identity
Notes
Transcript
Who Are You?
Who Are You?
Activity: Introduce Yourself
Activity: Introduce Yourself
On the card provided, write your name and tell me who you are.
Three unique things about yourself.
I am going to read what you wrote, and people will guess who I am describing.
Question: Why did you write what you did?
Question: Why did you write what you did?
Why did you choose those particular things to write about yourself?
When we introduce ourselves to others, we start by telling things about ourselves: what we like to do, things we are good at, maybe who we are related to, depending on who we are meeting. These are things we use to describe ourselves to others. These things are part of who we are—our identity.
But your identity is so much more than these things. Your identity is about how you see yourself. It’s about what you believe about yourself.
Each of you has a piece of paper with words on it. I want you to circle words that describe you. Don’t look on anyone else’s paper. Turn them over when you’re done.
A big part of your identity actually depends on what others say about you. Some folks feel like their only worth is in what they do for others. Some of us feel like we don’t have anything good to offer anyone. Even the most popular kids in the group, the ones who always seem so confident, struggle with feeling good enough and not quite knowing who they really are.
Finding Our Identity
Finding Our Identity
If we want to know who we really are, we need to learn from someone who really knows us. The problem is that most of the people we know are just human. They have their own problems. They can see what we do, but they can’t see our hearts. There are lots of people around who think they know us. But there is only one person who truly knows us.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
and before you were born I sanctified you,
and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
If anyone has the right to tell us who we are, it’s God.
1. God created us.
1. God created us.
2. God owns us.
2. God owns us.
3. God has authority.
3. God has authority.
4. God knows us better than anyone.
4. God knows us better than anyone.
You brought my inner parts into being;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise you, for You made me with fear and wonder;
marvelous are Your works,
and You know me completely.
God is perfect, and he knows everything. He created each of us with purpose and with careful planning. None of us are a mistake. If anyone has the right to tell us who we are, it’s God. He’s really the ONLY one who has the right to tell us who we are.
Over the next 7 weeks, we are going to look at what God has to say about who we are.
