Identity Crisis

Today’s youth are in the midst of the greatest identity crisis experienced by a generation.

The issue of identity is packed with many other issues that cause us to struggle with a sense of who we are and for purpose in our lives.  A sad example is the rate of self-harm and suicide among young people who are blessed with unprecedented opportunity and abundance.  When you realise who you really are on the inside you will have a greater sense of identity and being you will be more than just okay.  The strength and confidence in you will withstand the greatest of storms life will throw at you.

In the book of Proverbs in the Bible the author tells us, “As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man,” (Proverbs 27:19).  If we truly seek to understand our identity we need to address who we are on the inside.  We need to believe in ourselves enough to be ourselves and to live out our God-given potential to become who we are created to be.  

“Who you are determines what you do.”  

When we attempt to identify ourselves by the way people see us and in order to gain their approval and acceptance we deceive ourselves and others because we are only seeing our outside appearances.  

For anybody with identity issues like acceptance, security or significance it’s okay, because what you are feeling and experiencing is real to you.  There are plenty of good support networks available through your school support services, Chaplaincy, local churches, Counsellors and Mental Health Specialists.  If you want to talk with somebody or seek some help in overcoming self-esteem and identity issues, please contact us at uthINK and we’ll do what we can to get you on your way to recovering your identity and living with purpose toward your God-given destiny.  

We have staff that can assess and respond to people at risk of self-harm and suicide, provide some Christian counselling and or we can connect you with the support services you need.

Aiden, 19

Bellbird Park

As a child you believe everything is real, you play make believe, you believe you’re a superhero or princess or you have the ability to fly. When I was a child I was told that Jesus died for me and that God loves me dearly, and I believed that. I grew up in a Christian home with two loving parents and two brothers. Life seemed real. I went to a local church, I was involved with Sunday school - life was the best.

Life started to go downhill. My mother moved out of home, leaving my Dad and two brothers to look after ourselves. All that I believed as a child was disappearing. How could God love me if he let this happen to my life? So I turned away from God. By the age of 13 I believed God only cared for important people. I searched for love in wrong places. I hung around the wrong crowd. I would constantly be angry at school and at home. I became heavily involved in theft. My friends in were highly into the drug scene. I was looking for acceptance. I suffered from peer pressure, always wanting to please my friends to fit in and I did anything they told me to do hoping I would be accepted.

Church was no longer the House of God to me - it was a social place. My Dad saw what was going on and asked my brother’s Youth Pastor to get alongside me. So he invited me along to a youth event that was happening in a big church in Brisbane. I went expecting it to be a good chance to talk to some girls and get a free feed.  Little did I know that day would change my life forever. The guest speaker spoke about his life and how he left God because he thought God had abandoned him. I felt that he was speaking directly to me. After the church service my Pastor organized for me to have lunch with the guest speaker.  He sat down with me and told me more about his past and how God never left him but he had closed the door on God. He asked me if I had shut the door to God speaking to me in my life. Look at the Bible verse from Matthew  7:7 – “Ask and it will be given;  seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

Since that day, my life has been turned around. I couldn’t find love in the way I was living, but only through Jesus Christ and the grace and love He has for me. Now I’m currently studying at Bible College and hope to make a change in the world by using what I have learnt to impact the people that may be going through the same stuff I did or similar things.

“To make a change you have to be a change.” Are you being a light in your world? What are you doing to be that change?

God Bless You,

Aiden