If you were trying to show someone how to find their identity, what would you tell them? I’m not talking about their legal name, SS number, or place of birth. I’m talking about helping someone figure out why they were put on this earth. How can you help someone discover their purpose?

Many people today would probably say something like “look deep within yourself,” or “do the work to discover your true self, not what others want you to be.” That kind of advice is based on the assumption that we are the masters of our own destiny. It works off the belief that we get to decide who we want to be and why we are here on this earth. For Christians, we know that our lives are not our own anymore. Paul says it this way:

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20

So the truth is, if you’re in Christ, this life isn’t your life anymore - it’s His. This means that to find your purpose, you shouldn’t be looking more deeply at yourself, you should be looking more deeply at Christ. We spend so much time on things like personality tests to discover who we really are so that we can live a life of purpose. But you have died to yourself and now have a new life in Christ. That doesn’t mean that you no longer have a personality, or dreams, or a purpose. It means you aren’t the one who decides your purpose anymore - Jesus is.

This should actually sound like really good news to us because it means that I don’t have to trust myself and my ability to realize my identity and purpose. Instead, I can run to the One “who loved me and gave Himself for me” to show me how He desires His life to shine through me. In the meantime, I have full confidence and assurance that He will never let me down and everything He works in my life will be for my good and His glory.

If your goal is to “find your true self,” you’ll end up without hope and purpose. but if your goal is to find Christ and know Him, you will have found where true life really lies. Put down the personality test for a moment and look into the perfect mirror of Scripture. Stop trusting your own heart and pursue the One who gave you a new one. Rejoice in the crucifixion of Christ because that’s where you died to self so that you may be One in Christ. What greater purpose could you ask for?