How do you define yourself?  Unless you know what you believe about yourself you will be swayed by what others say.  

“Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” are two big questions in life.  Can you answer those questions for yourself?

God’s Word answers these questions for me:

• I am made in God’s image
• I am loved by God
• I am forgiven
• I am changed by God
• I am free from condemnation
• I am a child of God’s
• I have purpose here on earth

As for my purpose:

• I am here to glorify God (that is, make God known)
• I am to obey God’s word

To obey God’s word means I am to love God with all my heart, and I am to love others. ⁠

• I am to grow more and more like him, ⁠
• I am to tell others about Jesus’ words, and ⁠
• I am to encourage other Christians to good works.⁠

My intention is to do those things in every circumstance and every task I put my hand to.  Whether it is raising kids,  making a home, homeschooling, being hospitable, volunteering, teaching and coaching – whatever I’m doing. This is God’s will for me.

It is also God’s will for you. 

How you Define yourself Matters

Do you struggle with valuing yourself and knowing your purpose?

This is a heart issue. The Bible says that out of the heart flows the issues of life. Which means, life is shaped by what you believe (what is in your heart).

One of the reasons we struggle with valuing ourselves and finding purpose in what we do is that we don’t believe the right stuff about who we are.

For many years we have been told to see ourselves as wife and then mother. This messes with our identity – and it certainly messes with our ability to care for our self. Because ourself is not on the list of identities.

Over the years I’ve started to see myself and define myself as a person first.

• I am a person – created in God’s image, but as a person with abilities and gifts, preferences and opinions, and purposes.
• I am a Christian – redeemed and restored.

And then…

• I am a wife – married to Peter
• I am a mother – with four children
• I am a homemaker
• I am a coach and mentor
• I am a volunteer
• I am also a daughter, sister, friend and so forth.

Defining myself as a person first gives me identity based on what God has done and not on anything else that life brings my way. And aligning my identity with what God says has a flow-on effect where I can live out the other areas of my life true to God’s word.

But do we believe it?  Do we live it out?

Let’s Introduce Ourselves

I don’t know about you but for me this comes unravelling as soon as I meet a new person and I have to introduce myself.  

In our society we tend to introduce ourselves as our occupation.  And yet – we would say we are much more than that.  We tend to give value and find value in our employment – and there is nothing wrong with that unless that is all we see ourselves as. 

Our circumstances can change.  And unfortunately too many times our identities get lost and we no longer know who we are and what our purpose is. 

I know I used to introduce myself as – “Hi my name is Belinda, and I am a Homeschool mum of 4”.  Then one day I was only homeschooling two.  And then a few years later homeschooling none.  Who was I now?  

I am a person, made with abilities and passions.  I have relationships that play a big part in my life.  I have tasks to do that give me purpose.  But I am not my job.

We are more than how we spend our working hours.  Our value is as a person not as a worker.  So what you enjoy is as significant as what you do.  Who you belong to (family and community) is another important aspect of your identity.

We need to be careful about the voices we listen to.  Society tells us our value is in our achievements.  God tells us our value is in our being – simply because He made us in His image and He loves us.  

There are times that it is appropriate to introduce yourself by what you do – but watch your heart to check you aren’t seeing this is your value and purpose, and then try and dig into getting to know the other person beyond what they do for work.  

Let’s start to see our identity as something more than our work and achievements.

Further Reading:

DOWNLOAD WORKSHEET INCLUDED:  You need to be a Healthy Whole Person before you can be a Healthy Parent:  It starts with self-awareness so you can grow to be the best parent you can be.

Be Content in the Season of Life that is Now:  Our life is made up of different seasons. To be content in the season of life that is now will help you find opportunities and accept limitations.

When you Parent, do you see yourself as a Person?  When we see ourselves as a person, we become one of the first ‘others’ that we teach our children to love.

Be Careful about Wrong Information Stored in your Heart:  It is the wrong information in our heart that makes us make wrong choices. Make sure we are believing what is true.

Over to you:

So who are you and what are your purposes?  Can you tell me? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Leave me a comment here…