I want to ask you a question that sounded a lot simpler to me a year ago than it does today.

Who are you?

Close your eyes for a second and answer that. What came to your mind first? Was it your job title? Your role as a parent or a spouse? Was it your biggest achievement, or perhaps the struggle you’re currently walking through?

For a long time, my answer was tied to what I did. I was my career. I was my "usefulness" to others. I was the person who had it all figured out. But 2025 taught me a brutal, beautiful lesson: If your identity is tied to a season, it will change when the weather does. If it’s tied to a job, it will vanish with a layoff. If it’s tied to an achievement, it will crumble under the weight of your next mistake.

 The "If" Test

We like to think we are solid, but most of us build our houses on sand. Let’s do a heart check, the kind that hurts a little but sets you free.

* If you lost your child today, who are you?

* If your most valuable possession was stripped away, who are you?

* If your career, the thing you’ve known your whole life, suddenly ended, who are you?

If the answer is "I am nothing" or "I am lost," then your identity wasn't actually in God. It was in the gift, not the Giver.

It is so easy to worship the blessings and call it "faith." But true identity is what remains when the room is empty and the accolades stop. As believers, we are called to a radical way of living where our "who" is never determined by our "where."

Grounded in the Eternal

The truth is, we aren't just living for this earthly timeline. We are children of the Most High, and our purpose and future aren't just tied to what we can see, touch, or deposit in a bank. Our life is eternal

When you draw your identity from the Eternal, you become unshakeable. Why? Because you are drawing from the only thing in the universe that cannot be taken from you.

* God’s love for you doesn't fluctuate based on your productivity.

* His adoption of you isn't pending your next success.

* His view of you isn't skewed by your current "not-so-sure-what-I'm-doing" era.

 Moving Into the Present

In 2026, I am learning to live for the present as a child of God, period. I am stepping out of the "career identity" and into the "Kingdom identity."

I am no longer letting my struggles define me, nor am I letting my family or my future dreams become my idols. They are beautiful parts of my life, but they are not my life. My life is hidden in Christ.

So, I’ll ask you again: Who are you?

If everything you’ve worked for disappeared tomorrow, would you still be whole? If the answer is no, it’s okay. I’ve been there. But let’s use this year to rebuild on the only Foundation that doesn't shift. Let’s awaken to the truth that we are loved, we are chosen, and we are His long before we ever do a single thing for the world to see.