The twenty-first century is in a huge crisis – an identity crisis! I feel as though many people today are struggling to identify who they really are versus who society says they are. People go to great lengths to find their purpose or their calling, from taking a gap year to go travelling around the world to hiring life coaches. While these things are great to do, I want to show you how you were purposed before you were even created. What I have realised is that people are always searching for something in life. It may be a good job, a husband or a wife, a mentor or a life-changing experience. I have also heard people say things like: ‘I am on the search for happiness’; ‘I am on the search for inner peace’; or, a very common one, ‘I am on the search for love.’ Although these are all quite different aspects of life, I wonder if they all point in a similar direction. Normally, it is at the start of adolescence that we start questioning our very reason for being and discovering the skills and talents that make us unique. We try to make sense of our differences, including our behaviours and characteristics. We want to know the explanation behind our very existence and what we were called to do in life. We sometimes look for these answers in the form of a career, a family or even a business venture, but, even when these things are obtained, some people may still not know who they are. I have seen that the most fulfilled people in life aren’t the ones with the best jobs, the most money or the perfect families; no, the happiest people I have ever met are the ones who know exactly who they are and what their purpose is.

As I have mentioned before, society has a very deliberate way of labelling individuals and groups of people. Historically, one of the main reasons behind this has been to tell us how to treat people. This grouping of people is normally for a constructive cause, but, as history has also taught us, it can have negative impacts if used in the wrong way. The question I asked myself when researching this topic was: do the negative impacts of societal labels come from the label itself or from the treatment of others towards a specific group of people? We have seen the misuse of some horrific labels given to human beings in the past, but what I want to focus on is whether the root of the problem is in the actual label or in our response and behaviour towards the individuals with that label. I also want you show you the importance of knowing who you are before society gives you a label. If you allow society or your government to dictate who you are, then you can never build character; you will be swept along with the next trend. It’s important to know who we are, because studies have shown that a lack of identity causes low self-esteem and depression.

Your very nature and design is a result of your purpose. In Genesis 1:26, God says: ‘Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.’ It’s important to note that, in this verse, God is talking about our spirits, not our physical bodies. God had not yet physically formed Adam and Eve; He had created their spirits. He created them both to be like Him. There was no favouritism, no hierarchy. Male and female were always meant to be equal since the beginning of time. It was human perversion and misunderstanding that led to the mistreatment women. So, for all my feminists, you are and have always had equal rights in this world, according to God. As a great man of God once put it: ‘If you have to ask somebody for your rights, you are admitting he or she has ownership of them.’ Women have always had equality with men; it was part of the way God formed us. What I believe people are fighting for is a shift in mentality. Knowing who you are is vital in order to know what you are fighting for.

Nelson Mandela is a perfect example of this. Mandela was someone who was so grounded in who he was and how he should be treated that, despite being behind bars for nearly three decades of his life, he still fought for what was right. A perfectly innocent man and a good citizen, he was labelled as guilty, a prisoner, a criminal, and, as a result, was treated according to those societal names given to him. There are many perfectly innocent people in this world behind bars for a criminal act they did not commit but are suffering a criminal’s punishment. I have also been doing some research into the story of Kalief Browder, a young African-American boy who spent three years in what was arguably the worst jail in the United States, Rikers Island, awaiting trial for an offence for which he was later found innocent. A third of his time was spent in solitary confinement and he was often beaten by both correctional officers and inmates because he didn’t partake in their corrupted jail systems. He was offered thirteen plea deals, but didn’t take any of them because he kept believing in his innocence. He would repeatedly say: ‘I am not going to plead guilty for something I did not do … I am innocent.’ His brother was also wrongfully accused of a sexual assault, but, because he understandably couldn’t endure the jail environment, he reluctantly took a deal and pleaded guilty for something he did not commit so he could go back home. However, Kalief’s brother now remains on the sex offenders register for life, making it almost impossible for him to get a job, buy a house or live any sort of ordinary life. There are obviously major racial issues involved in all the cases I have mentioned and I have already written about the silent and implicit labels that society often operates under (I would encourage you to read my article ‘Silent and implicit’). The point I want to raise with these examples is regarding the various labels that society put on such people. Separating citizens from criminals is beneficial, but what if a person has been given the wrong label and is now subjected to abuse they never deserved. Was the fault in the label or in the treatment of those in power?  So, to all those who are fighting for equal rights, are you fighting to have equal rights or to be treated equally according to the equal rights that you already have?

I also want to help you discover purpose. As I mentioned before, your design is a result of purpose. What many people don’t know is that God’s purpose is key to our fulfilment and happiness in life. The reason we have a lost sense of identity and purpose today is because we have lost our understanding of our original purpose. So, how do we re-discover our identity and purpose? Firstly, if you think that your identity comes from the environment in which you live, you will get very confused. Your identity does not come from a small book that allows you to cross the borders, it does not come from your family or friends, it does not come from your job, and it certainly doesn’t come from what others say about you. Secondly, identity and purpose were given to you; they are not things you have to find. God said to the prophet Jeremiah: ‘I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.’ God was telling Jeremiah how He designed and formed him in a unique way, so that he could fulfil his purpose here on earth. I would like to emphasise that you are unique for a reason. This is why you literally cannot be anyone else, because your unique design is linked to your unique purpose. In addition, I would like to emphasise that, although Jeremiah wasn’t always a prophet (he was actually a priest for many years before God’s calling), God was effectively telling Jeremiah that everything he needed in order to be a prophet was already in him, and these gifts would manifest at the right time. I also say to you, dear brothers and sisters, everything that you are going to need in life to fulfil your purpose has already been deposited in you. That is why it is imperative to encourage yourself in the things you are passionate about and your natural skills and abilities. The only reason why God made you was because there was a function and role that He needed fulfilling. Therefore, God sent you into this world packaged with everything you will possibly need to fulfil your assignment. There is a meaning to your life. However, if your identity or purpose is unknown to you, perhaps you need to find time to ask your creator who you are and for what purpose you were created.

Jesus was the epitome of living a life grounded in identity and purpose. Jesus was mocked, beaten and betrayed for who He was, yet we never see Him once have an identity crisis. We see Jesus remain faithful to His calling, unmoved by people’s opinions of Him. Jesus was arrested by the Romans, and Pilate said to Jesus: ‘Don’t you realise that I have the power to release you or crucify you?’ Jesus replied: ‘You have no power over me unless it was given to you from above.’ Essentially, Jesus was telling him that, although he was physically bound, he was spiritually free. There are many people in prisons all over the world who are free, and there are those who are seemingly free yet bound. We also see the same with Joseph and the apostle Paul. Though they were both arrested and taken as prisoners, God’s favour was with Joseph and he was made the manager of the prison, before God eventually elevated him to prime minister of a country. The apostle Paul ended up writing two-thirds of the New Testament from a prison cell. If you focus too much on your physical state and your present environment, you will never be able to see what God has for you. I can confidently say that, by the grace of God, I will never have an identity crisis, I will always know my purpose and I don’t need anything or anyone to make me happy (yes, that includes my physical, very attractive partner in life). That’s not to say that having people around you isn’t helpful or meaningful. All I am saying is that neither my identity nor my purpose is found in another human being because it was already God-given, and no one can take that away. As my own Pastor and spiritual Father in Christ one said: ‘Your future is not in your plans, it is in God.’ Everything that God made has purpose. If you are sat down reading this, take a minute to look at the objects around you; everything was manufactured for a purpose. You don’t just have a chair and a table for decoration: they were made by the manufacturer with a purpose in mind. In the same way, our heavenly Father, our spiritual manufacturer and creator, formed you and sent you with a purpose already in mind.

‘I can see your heart in everything you’ve made…’ – ‘So Will I (100 Billion X)’, song by Hillsong Worship

Author: Laura McBride Galarza

Editor: Melissa Bond