Who are you?

Throughout my college wrestling career at Messiah College, I was constantly reminded by my Coach that my identity was not in winning or losing, but in Jesus Christ. It seems like a relatively easy concept to understand, but I believe it is something that we must continually remind ourselves of throughout our lives.

When my teammate, Tim, and I were in the hotel room the night before the national tournament our senior year, I remember a specific conversation we had about this topic. We talked about how in 24 hours we could both be All Americans, and if that happened most people would immediately start to think of us differently. It was weird for us to think about, because we knew that nothing about us would change in the next 24 hours. We had been conditioned for four years to reject the notion that winning can define you or change you. I went to bed that night with a sense of peace, knowing that no matter what happened over the next two days, I was a child of the God of the universe and there was nothing I could do that would change that.

I believe that the peace I had that night, is one of the most powerful things that anyone can bring into competition. Knowing where your identity truly lies makes you dangerous. It means that you can attack non-stop without any fear of losing.

I often hear people talk about how they are "haunted" because they did not achieve their goals. Many people have a hard time understanding that achieving your goals cannot change you as a person or add any value to you. This mindset, that achieving your goals will somehow alter who you are or how you feel, leads to many highly successful people becoming very disappointed once they achieve their ultimate goal.

So who are you? How do you define yourself? Are you an All american? A National Champ? A four year backup? God doesn't care what you have achieved or not achieved in your life. He just wants a relationship with you. That is why he came to earth and died for our sins; so that he could be in relationship with us and we could bring him glory.