I have a question.....I've been struggling lately with my identity. Not my identity in Christ, but who *I* am! I know what I want to do, I know what ministry I want to get in, I know my strengths and my weaknesses! But I've been trying to figure out who I AM!!! I'm not shy or timid, I just lack a persona, a character. I feel like sometimes (and I know this isn't true) that God has written the script for my life and forgot to write the character backgound. IT'S KILLING ME INSIDE, I FEEL SO EMPTY AND HELPLESS....How do I find myself, how do I figure out how I'm supposed to act, feel, think. People say "Well, you should be more like Jesus in what you do in your life and your personality" but I don't trust that response. How do I find my personality, I FEEL LIKE A SKITTLE WITH NO FLAVOR, I find it impossible to be me. Help!

 
 
A very wise man was teaching on boundaries and provided the most wonderful chart:

Who Am I? I AM:
What I think / What I don't think
What I feel / What I don't feel
What I want or need / What I don't want or need
What I will do / What I won't do
What is acceptable to me / What is not acceptable to me

"Who I am" is the answer to these questions. It's not like a test where you sit down and fill in the blanks; it's more of a grid through which you pass the moments of your life, with these questions in the background. It takes a while to come up with a picture of who you are by finding out the sorts of things you like and don't like, what you think and what you don't think, what you want or need and what you don't what or need, etc.

For instance, there was a time in fourth grade when someone asked me who I was rooting for in the World Series. I didn't have a clue, not being a baseball fan. So I found out what team John Witten was for, since he was the love of my life at that point in time, and that's who I was for. But I really wasn't: the REAL me didn't care about baseball and couldn't care less who was in the World Series. But I didn't know that that was an acceptable answer. I do now! :-)

I would suggest you write these questions on an index card and carry them with you, and as your personal beliefs and preferences and surface, make a note of them. I think you'll discover who you are.

I hope this helps--I am very confident that it should at least help you get started!

Warmly,

Sue Bohlin
Probe Ministries

About the Author

Sue Bohlin is an associate speaker with Probe Ministries. She attended the University of Illinois, and has been a Bible teacher and conference speaker for over 30 years. She serves as a Mentor Mom and speaker for MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers), and on the board and as a small group leader of Living Hope Ministries, a Christ-centered outreach to those dealing with unwanted homosexuality. Sue is on the Bible.org Women leadership team and is a regular contributor to TheTapestryBlog.com. She is also a professional calligrapher and the webmistress for Probe Ministries; but most importantly, she is the wife of Dr. Ray Bohlin and the mother of their two grown sons.

What is Probe?

Probe Ministries is a non-profit ministry whose mission is to assist the church in renewing the minds of believers with a Christian worldview and to equip the church to engage the world for Christ. Probe fulfills this mission through our Mind Games conferences for youth and adults, our 3-minute daily radio program, and our extensive Web site at www.probe.org.

Further information about Probe's materials and ministry may be obtained by contacting us at: