“Who am I?” It was a simple question asked by the Trappist monk Thomas Merton, to which he answered, “I am one loved by Christ.”

All of us wrestle with our identity and would that it were only though our teenage years of self discovery. Many of us are haunted by the question of who we are and what our place is in the world. If the question is left unanswered, we will pursue a myriad of paths to fill the inner void, many of which will lead to pain and destruction.

The glorious truth is, that no matter what the world around us may say, our identity and worth is not determined by what we possess, by where we’ve come from or by what others think of us. Instead, it is fixed in knowledge that we are created in the image of God. We bear God’s mark upon us and, even more affirming, we are loved by the One whose image we bear.

Our craving to understand who we really are is satisfied by drawing near to God and allowing God to draw near to us. It is when we cease from our striving to find validation in temporal things or the affirmation of others, and accept the awesome love of the Creator, that we can discover the answer we long to find. It is God, the One who calls us by name, who declares that we are of infinite worth.

Sometimes, amid the many voices around me that tempt me to embrace another reality, I need reminded that my hope, my identity is is God. Maybe, you too wrestle to know who you are. Maybe, you too are tempted to look in places that can never satisfy. Today, we can together make a decision to celebrate who we are and like Brother Thomas declare, “I am one loved by Christ.”