What Defines You

Key Verse:

INTRO

Imagine you’re reading a women’s magazine and you come across a headline for a quiz that tells you how to “find yourself.” You stop where you are and get down to business. Because, really, who doesn’t want to know who they are? That’s why we’re going to start out today’s lesson with a load of questions. So, take a few minutes and jot down your answers to these identity-oriented questions:

1. What three words would you use to describe yourself?

2. What three words do you think others would use to describe you?

3. What characteristics do you hope others see in you?

4. What are the most influential things in your life (e.g. sports, money, clothes, family, grades, etc.)?

5. Who do you think you are?

THINK IT THROUGH

This world is all about self-discovery—about individualism, personality, uniqueness and finding your niche. We’re encouraged to know ourselves and follow our hearts. We’re told that being comfortable with who we are is a key to life.

But who are we kidding? While those questions might be fun to answer and self-discovery might be an engaging psychological exercise, we’re in for a frustrating experience when we try to figure ourselves out all on our own. Seriously, how many times have you changed your mind about your favorite color or ice cream flavor? How often have you gone back and forth between being an extrovert and an introvert or changed your mind about whether you hate practice or love it?

We’re all human beings who change from time to time—and if we worry about discovering who we are, we’ll never get to the bottom of it. Or, if we do, we’ll just have to go looking for ourselves again once we’ve aged a few years and learned new lessons. The point is that finding our identity on our own is fruitless. We might know ourselves really well, but that understanding won’t last, and it will change.

1. What is something you used to believe that you don’t anymore? Why did you change your mind?

2. How many times have you tried to “find” yourself only to go back to the same question later with a different answer?

3. To this point in your life, how would you define yourself? If someone was to ask you who you are, what would be your response?

There’s a common phrase among Christians that says we are to find our identity in Christ. But what does that even mean? How can we be identified in someone else? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of finding who we are? It would certainly seem so—at least on the surface. But there’s a lot more to it if we really take the time to study it.

In fact, finding your identity in Christ is actually the only way to discover the real you.

Based on Psalm 139, consider how well God knows you. He knows what you do at every moment. He knows your words before you say them. He knows when you sleep and when you get up. He knows you. Why? Because He made you (Psalm 139:13). And no one knows an object more than the one who designed and created it—especially when that object was made in the image of said Creator.

Think about it. God formed you. He knows why He made you (Ephesians 2:10), what gifts He gave you (1 Peter 4:10), your desires (Psalm 37:4) and even the number of hairs on your head (Matthew 10:30). And to all of His children He gave certain rights and traits that contribute to who we are according to His true version of us.

And you know what all this adds up to? You guessed it: our identity. Who we really are. By looking to who God created us to be, we will learn the Truth about us at the deepest, most critical level.

So, are you ready to find out who you are?

THE WORD

As we look to the Word to discover our true identities, we must remember that this is actual Truth. If we read something in Scripture that doesn’t line up with what we currently believe about ourselves we need to wrestle with the concept and ask why we don’t believe the Word and what we believe instead.

There’s a good chance that the enemy has put lies in our heads to make us believe less about ourselves than God does. This is our chance to destroy those lies and start believing the honest to goodness Truth.

KEY VERSES:

Grab your Bibles and look at these key verses. While there are hundreds of them that point to aspects of who we are as God’s children, we’ll start with some basics to get a handle on our foundational identity in Him.

Take 10 minutes to read the following verses and record what it says about who you are:

While that may seem like a ton of verses, it’s really only the beginning. The Bible is filled with bits of truth that help you come to a deep and profound understanding of who God made you and who He knows you to be!

Now, there is one important thing to consider . . . These are all traits of women who are God’s children, meaning those who have received God’s Son, Jesus, as their Savior.

Go back to the first verse on the list: John 1:12. “But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name…” According to this verse, while God created us all, there is a qualification that must be in place in order for us to become His children and, thus, step into our true identity. We must receive and believe in Christ. Until we do that, we will remain beings created by God who are living as children of the world.

Here’s the thing: We are all sinners, right? (Yes. Read Romans 3:23.) That creates a problem when it comes to spending eternity with God because our sins come with a death penalty. (Hey, God’s no pushover. He’s incredibly just.) But because He loves us so fiercely, He made a way for us to spend eternity with Him even while we didn’t deserve it. He sent Jesus to die in our place—to take on the death we deserved so that we could have eternal life with the Father. We can’t do a thing to earn this payment; we need only believe in Jesus, receive Him as our Savior and surrender to Him as Lord. It’s so simple and, yet, so incredible. And once we make this decision, we can step into the role we were created to hold from the beginning: our true selves according to God.

(NOTE: If you have yet to make Jesus the Lord of your life, speak up in this study and talk to someone. Don’t wait. Don’t hesitate. Don’t fear. This is the best thing you could ever do in your entire life.)

TAKEAWAY POINT:

Listen, we all want to know who we are. We all want to be confident in our identity. But we’ll never get there unless we stop trying to figure it out for ourselves and start looking to the One who made us, designed us and knows us intimately—better than we (or anyone else) know ourselves.

By turning our eyes to His Word and finding out what He says about us as His children, we will know the absolute, unchanging, fundamental Truth about us—not the guesses we make about ourselves based on our mood or personality. We’ll know who we actually are as His children.

TEAM TIME

As teammates, you can help each other learn to the Truth about who you are as God’s daughters. The theory that there’s strength in numbers is supported in Scripture—starting with the Father Himself as One of Three—and it certainly applies to you in your quest to embrace who you really are. By joining forces with your teammates, you can multiply your strength and resources in the battle for your souls.

ACTIVITY:

1. As a group, discuss things on which you tend to pin your identity (e.g. sports, grades, popularity, friends, possessions, family, etc.).

2. Why could it be dangerous to place your identity in any of these things—particularly your sport.

3. Now discuss why it would be safe to find your identity in what God says about you.

4. Divide up the list of verses from “THE WORD” and assign one or more to each teammate until they are all taken. Go around the room and read them all out loud, recording on a white board or flip chart what each verse indicates about your identity as God’s children.

   1. Now go back through the list and discuss common lies that set themselves up against these pieces of truth.

   2. Which ones are most common or difficult lies you face as athletes?

   3. How can rooting yourselves in your identity in Christ help you become a better athlete and teammate.

   4. What could it look like for an entire team to be fully convinced of their identity in Christ? What would be the impact?

5. Finish your discussion by considering the questions, “What is God saying to me?” and “How will I respond?”

WORK IT OUT

Your team’s mission is to focus on establishing your identity as God’s daughters. Choose one or more of the following activities to do as a team between now and your next meeting:

1. Create a list of traits and truths about who you are in Christ and distribute them to each teammate. Hang the lists in your lockers or on the mirrors in your locker room.

2. Choose four verses from the list in the study to memorize this week.

3. Have each teammate make a photo reprint on herself. Using Sharpies® or markers, let each teammate write bits of Truth regarding who she is in Christ over the photo. Post the pictures in your lockers or on your mirrors at home.

4. Write a poem or rap about who you are in Christ and let the whole team learn it.

RALLY CRY:

Once you have your plan in place, couple it with this week’s Bold and Beautiful Rally Cry. As a team, this will be your power phrase for the week. Repeat it to yourselves and as a group to combat the lies that the enemy tries to tell you, and let it point you back to the Author of Truth.

“I AM HIS!”

PSALM 139:1-6