Last week’s article dealt with “Three Choices About Life.” We can (1) Just Endure it, (2) Try to Escape it, or (3) Choose to Enjoy it. In this writing we will introduce four questions about life which one needs to understand and answer. The four questions are:
Who am I?
Where did I come from?
Why am I here?
Where am I going?
The first two are questions of identity. The third one is a question of purpose. And the fourth one is a question of destination. In this article we will deal with the first two questions. Our society is full of people who have a difficult time understanding who they are. For example, a man comes home from work one day and says to his wife and children, “I’m leaving. I do not know who I am. I have to go find myself.” And he walks out on his family after twenty five years of marital togetherness. It is a mid-life identity crisis. And it is not just a “man” thing. It happens with wives also. This question of identity, who am I, also is seen in low self image problems: “I am a nobody. I cannot do anything. I’m just taking up space in life. I hate myself.”
This “Who Am I” question is real. And it needs to be answered and understood. It is my strong belief that question two helps with the answers. Where did I come from? The Bible gives us the answer: “…God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:26, 27). Where did you come from? You came from God. There is in every human being some kind of a likeness of God. Think about this: Did God make a bunch of “nobodies?” I suggest you go into your bathroom, shut the door and look into your mirror. As you look into your eyes looking back at you, talk to yourself out loud. Tell yourself there is something about you that is in the likeness of God. I understand there may be things about yourself you do not like. Your hair. Your weight. Change what you have the ability to change. Work on it. Make it happen. Do not let Satan make you believe you are a nobody.
Who am I? Where did I come from? I am not a nobody. I am somebody created in the image of God. Such should surely impact life and how we live it. The final two questions will be dealt with in next week’s article. Stay tuned!
— Les Ferguson Sr., South Huntington Church of Christ
