At an early age, we begin to ask the question “who am I”? It is important that we ask this question. At first, we must ask it of (or learn it from) our parents and family. As we grow up, we begin to see if what our parents told us about who we are is true. And, when it is, we begin to live by that definition of who we are or better said, we live into that definition of ourselves. And, when it is not true, we have to find a better way to define ourselves.
In the Reformed churches and the Catholic churches, infants are baptized in order to show the world that this child already belongs to the Divine and to show the parents, the church and the world the commitment that is expected from them to help this child define who they are. Later, when they are old enough to understand, their baptism is confirmed in the church. Again, done correctly, this is a wonderful and powerful process of learning who we are in Christ.
But, it often does not go so smoothly. Our parents might not have defined us very well. Often parents define a child through the eyes of who the parent wanted/wants to be and not as the child is and can be. This leaves a child with confusion. Am I who my parents have told me I am? Or, am I something different? I am one of those kids. Some 60+ years later, I still wrestle with whether I am good enough or not. My parents both explicitly and implicitly defined me as not good enough or needing to be a little better than I was.
You are who you choose to be. You get to ultimately define yourself. The truth is, the Church has not done a good job in teaching you or me how to define ourselves. The “false self” is who we think we should be or want ourselves to be. That is ego. The “true self” is who we are in God. The Eternal already lives in us and like a sculpture, our life is about chiseling away the unnecessary parts to reveal the “true self” as it resides in the Eternal. As it has from our moment of birth.
Who am I? I am the precious child of the Creator of all things. I will let the Creator define me with the words of praise from the Creator: It is good!
TMM