Who am I? What makes me. . . me? How do I get my identity?  In our complicated world, who gets to define who I am and what my worth truly is?

When I look around, I see all sorts of comparisons as people try to prove their worth to themselves and their world. Some people judge themselves by their popularity, their power or possessions. And there’s a lot of people who find their worth in the approval of others.  They want to be needed. They love to feel important.

But is it fair to base my worth. . . my very identity. . . on what other human and fallible people may think? Wouldn’t it make the most sense for me to find my identity in the one who created me? I was, after all, his idea. We all were. And, when all is said and done, and my life in this world is over, it’s all going to be between me and him anyways. Nobody else is going to be standing there telling me how well I did.

All this talk of identity reminds me of my dear neighbor, Sally, who found her identity in her beauty. Once, when she was at the salon and the beautician finished the haircut, she turned Sally to face the mirror and beamed, “Look at you!” Now you have to know that Sally was not just good looking – she was stunning. Drop dead gorgeous with perfect skin, piercing blue eyes and luscious thick hair.  Sally flashed her striking smile and quickly glanced into the mirror to see how many others were looking. She already knew she was beautiful; stared at by men and in her own mind, envied by women. . . What’s more, she loved it!

Fast-forward forty years and Sally is now a dying woman stricken with cancer. I was amazed as she showed me her scrapbooks. Her claims to fame. Picture after beautiful picture of herself with all kinds of men. She’d been married three times and engaged too many times to count. But now, in the end, she was all alone, desperate to maintain not her looks, but her identity of beauty.

Yes, her identity. The identity she’d forged through the opinions of others and countless trips to the salon. She had invested so much effort, time, money, and emotion into being beautiful because that is how she identified her worth in this world.

It made me wonder how often she paused to ponder how beautiful she was in God’s eyes. I wonder if she realized her worth to her heavenly Father. Did she know in her heart what Jesus did to show his love for her?  And yet, all alone on death’s door, who was she still trying to impress? Whose approval was she still striving so hard to win?

So today, let’s ask ourselves some real questions. Who are you? How do you see yourself? What is your identity?  How do you compare yourself to others? And what do you really put your faith in?  Do you see yourself as strong, muscular or beautiful? Or perhaps wealthy, successful or smart? Maybe your identity is right there with your portfolio, accomplishments or popularity. What. . . or who defines you?

When Jesus told the story about the rich man and the beggar Lazarus, isn’t it interesting that the rich man had no name (Lk 16:19-21)? Like Sally whose identity was based on her beauty, perhaps the rich man’s entire identity was based on his riches.

At the very end of your life, Jesus wants to see you in heaven. He won’t care about your looks or your bank account. He wants to wrap his embrace around you as he calls out your name!  Who will he say you are?