Identity

I have been thinking lately about identity. As humans, we often characterize, or identify, ourselves by the positions we may have, activities that we are involved in, or groups we belong to. For example, "I'm a soccer player." "I'm an accountant." "I'm Catholic." All three could be accurate representations of certain aspects of a person, but without these things, who would the person be? Anyone of importance?

The late Neal A. Maxwell said, "The validation of our worth really comes from knowing who we are, not solely from what we do." If someone were to ask you today, "Who are you?", what would you say?

We might be tempted to say our name (a mere title that can change), our job, our hobbies----we could literally say any number of things without touching who we really are. Really "knowing who we are" may be the process of a lifetime, but I believe that we can look for help from The Book of Mormon. In the book of first Nephi, Nephi states "...the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and He hath created His children that they should possess it."

Could it be that we place too much emphasis in our society on the awards, titles, talents, and positions without understanding our true identity? I think so. As children of God, we are endowed with infinite potential and abilities. We should be able to find our chief source of identity in our divine heritage as a son or daughter of a heavenly, immortal, perfect being. In reality, it is the only thing we all have in common; we may be divided by race, gender, age, positions, economic status, sexual orientation, etc. But at the root of it all, we are still brothers and sisters, children of God.