Who Do You Think You Are?

 

Dear Reader,

Have you ever been asked, "Who do you think you are?"

Perhaps the question was asked in anger. Perhaps it was spoken in disbelief when you attempted something beyond another person's expectations. Or perhaps it was whispered quietly in your own mind during moments of failure, loss, or uncertainty.

In my experience, I have often paraphrased the question as, "Who do you think I am?" In either case, the question may arise from ego or from shame, but it remains worth asking.

Who do you think you are?

Throughout my life, I have answered that question in many ways.

• I am a teacher.

• I am a husband.

• I am a father.

• I am an alcoholic.

• I am successful.

• I am a failure.

• I am too old.

• I am not enough.

At eighty-three years of age, I have learned that labels may describe our circumstances, but they never define our souls.

The world is quick to give us labels—some flattering, others painful—but none can fully answer that question.

With my conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have come to embrace a new definition. As President Russell M. Nelson has taught, our first and most important identity is this:

"We are children of God."

Before we were sons and daughters of earthly parents, before we held occupations or titles, before we experienced triumphs or disappointments, we lived with our Heavenly Father as His spirit children.

Whether viewed through the lens of faith, philosophy, or personal experience, many of us have felt that there is something eternal within us—something that whispers we belong to a higher order than this world alone.

Doctrine and Covenants 93:29 teaches:

"Man was also in the beginning with God."

Think of the implications of that statement.

Your true identity is not found in your bank account, your education, your accomplishments, your age, or even your mistakes. You are not defined by your addictions, your regrets, or the labels others have placed upon you.

You are, and have always been, a child of God.

That truth has profound consequences:

• No failure can permanently diminish your worth.

• No addiction can erase your divine heritage.

• No amount of time or distance can place you beyond the reach of God's love.

The adversary would have us believe:

"You are your mistakes. You are your fears. You are unworthy. You are forgotten."

Christ offers a different message:

"You are My Father's child. Come home."

Perhaps mortality is less about discovering who we are and more about remembering who we have always been.

In Alcoholics Anonymous, we speak of a spiritual awakening. In the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we speak of conversion. In both cases, there is an element of remembering—remembering that we were never intended to walk alone and that our lives have eternal meaning.

So, the next time life asks, "Who do you think you are?" I hope we will answer with humility and conviction:

"I am a child of God. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I have divine worth, divine potential, and an eternal destiny."

"The journey of mortality is not to discover who we are, but to remember who we have always been—children of God with divine potential and an eternal destiny."

🙏🏻🧘‍♂️💕🤗☮️