Discovering your identity !

The most loneliest life is one lived without purpose. This kind of emptiness comes not from the absence of people, but from the absence of meaning. We live in a world grappling with a sense of identity, particularly among young people who face a growing identity crisis. A world where many find it challenging to answer fundamental questions like: Who am I? and What defines me? As the ancient philosopher Socrates famously said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.”

Paul Tillich once said, “All you need to know about someone you can learn by asking one question: What do you worship?” This question gets to the heart of what we value most. Our highest value shapes our identity and provides the foundation for our purpose. When you discover what you hold most sacred, you discover who you truly are.

Our True Identity

For Christians, particularly Catholics, our primary concern should not be simply about ‘who’ we are but ‘whether’ we are living according to our true identity. Our identity is found not in the shifting tides of culture but in God, our Creator. As humans, we are like products of a divine designer, made with a specific purpose in mind. Just as a product functions best when it is used according to the intention of its manufacturer, so too must our lives be aligned with the purpose for which we were created.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church beautifully defines our purpose: “to know God, to love God, to serve God, and to be with God” (CCC 1). In this sense, our identity is not a matter of self-invention but of discovery – discovering God’s intention for us. To be Christian, then, is to live with this purpose as our guiding principle. If we say we are Christians, our lives must reflect this divine purpose.

When we live according to God – our Creator’s design, we find meaning and fulfillment, and in doing so, we escape the loneliness of a purposeless existence.

I will conclude with the famous words from Saint Augustine: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” True rest, identity, and purpose are only found in God.

Embrace Him today !

Every blessings!

~Fr. James Anyaegbu