For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13, NIV)
I listened to a podcast recently in which the guest, a psychiatrist, asked the host, “Who are you?” The host answered by stating his name. They also agreed on other descriptors, including son, brother, and boyfriend. As LINKS players, “golfer” would surely be on our list.
Does being a golfer define who you are? Is golf the first and last thing you think of each day? More importantly, does your attitude and self-image fluctuate based on the quality of your daily game? For the elite competitors, what happens to your sense of identity when you can no longer play at that high level?
The podcast guest described different ways of understanding who you are. One example he mentioned is the gap between the inhale and the exhale of a breath. Or some people might identify with what others think or say they are.
The Bible specifically tells us that God knew us before our first breath. “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb…My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:13, 15-16).
The Psalmist assures us that God has known us longer and more intimately than we have known ourselves because he created our “inmost being” and destined our days. That he intentionally and specifically created us in such detail underscores our worth to God.
The Apostle John sheds more light on how Jesus shapes our identity. “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13).
Once we learn WHO and WHOSE we are, the Word of God informs us HOW and WHAT we are to do. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). When we are in Christ, we are a new creation and become Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:17, 20).
This ties together our origin as God’s image bearers, our relationship to Jesus as his followers, and our purpose. Knowing ourselves to be God’s “handiwork” answers who we are and our purpose. God has already prepared the good works we are to do through the work of the Holy Spirit.
There are many ways to describe who we are, but the foundation of them all is child of God.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for creating me and knowing me before I was born; let that guide me in all my ways.