This series is built around one of the most important questions students face: Who am I, really? Students hear answers to that question constantly, from friends, from their past, from social media. We’ll be spending four weeks helping them cut through all of that and build their identity on what God says about them and giving them tools to live from that foundation.
This isn’t a self-help series. It’s rooted in Scripture, and our goal is to help students see themselves the way God sees them and let that change how they navigate everything else.
Below is a brief overview that will give you an idea of what we’ll be discussing each week, along with a conversation starter you can use at home.
Series Overview
This four-week series will help students understand where their identity comes from, recognize the labels and comparisons that are holding them back, and learn to live from who God says they are rather than what the world tells them.
Session 1: Made on Purpose
This week, we’re starting with the foundation. Before we talk about labels, comparison, or anything else that makes identity complicated, we’re asking the most basic question: did God make you on purpose? We’ll look at Psalm 139 and what it means that God knew you before you were born and was personally involved in making you.
Big Idea: You aren’t an accident.
Primary Scripture: Psalm 139:13-16
Discussion Questions: What’s something about yourself that you’ve always found difficult to accept as intentional? What’s one thing about how you’re made that you could thank God for this week?
Session 2: Labels Don’t Define You
This week we’re talking about the labels we carry, the ones other people gave us and then ones we’ve given ourselves. We’ll look at what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians about the new creation that happens in Christ, and what it means that those old labels lose their authority when you belong to Jesus.
Big Idea: The world doesn’t get to tell you who you are.
Primary Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:17
Discussion Questions: What’s a label you’ve been carrying that still feels true even when you know it shouldn’t? How do the people closest to you see you differently than you see yourself?
Session 3: The Comparison Trap
This week, we’re tackling comparison, one of the biggest identity thieves students face. We’ll look at what Paul wrote to the Galatians about running your own race, and the story of David being chosen as king, which shows that God is using completely different criteria than the ones we use to measure ourselves.
Big Idea: God didn’t design you to be a copy.
Primary Scripture: Galatians 6:4-5; 1 Samuel 16:7
Discussion Questions: When comparison creeps in, what does it usually look like for you? What’s one thing God has put in your hands that you haven’t been giving much attention to lately?
Session 4: Becoming Who You Already Are
This final week, we’re addressing the gap that most of us feel between what God says is true about us and what we feel on a given day. We’ll look at Ephesians 1 and 1 John 3 and talk about what it looks like to live from your identity when believing it doesn’t always come easy.
Big Idea: It’s okay to be a work in progress.
Primary Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-6; 1 John 3:1
Discussion Questions: What’s something true about yourself that you have a hard time actually believing? What’s one thing from this series that has stuck with you?
In this series, we help students build their identity on what God says about them, and giving them tools to live from that foundation rather than the labels, comparisons, and doubts that so easily get in the way. It would be wonderful if you could find time to read and discuss one or more of the above passages student. As you do, try to ask your students how the series landed for them and what, if anything, they’re still thinking about.
