Who Am I? by Caleb Ziegler

Caleb recently had an assignment in his Junior English class. The assignment was to write an essay entitled Who Am I? I wanted to share it with you.


Who am I?
Who are you? she asks.
Am I supposed to answer that question? Any judgment or opinion that I give about myself is going to be flawed because, just as I believe that I sing well, the sad fact of the matter is, I sing terribly. So, in order to answer this question, I must appeal to a higher authority. Society might be able to offer some insight into the matter. However, upon further examination of society as a whole, I find that it is flawed as well. The words of popular opinion bring condemnation upon themselves. Society would not be willing to answer this question in the first place because it believes feelings to be higher in the moral hierarchy than truth. Also, the basis of society’s definitions of truth, ethics, and morality cannot be traced back to any authority except that of the opinion of man. As a result, I will not appeal to society to answer the question: “Who am I?” Instead, I choose to appeal to an authority that is definite, constant, and higher than any other authority. A power such as this is able to answer this question definitively. I appeal to heaven and to God.
The one true God of the Christian faith has, in His infinite wisdom, left His followers a book that intentionally and explicitly answers the question above, the Bible. Since the Bible is the inspired word of God, it can be used to find His opinion on the matter of who I am. First, He says that I was created in His image but, unlike God, I have a sinful nature. This inherent wickedness was brought about by God’s willingness to give mankind freewill and its abuse of this privilege. As a result of my sinfulness, my just punishment is an eternity in hell. However, because of God’s awesome grace and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, as a Christian I have been gifted with an eternity with God in heaven. Now, because of the gratefulness I have, I have an aversion to sin and a desire to serve God and to do His will. This influences everything else about me. The actions I choose to participate in are first interrogated by the question of whether or not they are in accordance with God’s will. My concern of other people’s opinions is regulated by the knowledge that God is sovereign and that people have no eternal authority over me. My fears, from the fear of death to the fear of spiders, are dampened by the assurance that God’s will prevails and his plans cannot be changed. The value of my life and of other people’s lives is increased in my eyes because I know God created every one of them and that He loves them. I know that whether I am blind, deaf, and unable to walk, or I am strong and able to run for ten miles straight, it doesn’t matter because I have the same value in God’s eyes and when I reach heaven, I will receive a perfect body. Finally, the eternal future of other people is brought to my attention and my life goal is to see as many people into heaven as I can.
Who am I? I have appealed to the highest authority and He has said that I am His child and that I am going to heaven. Everything else that comprises who I am is used by God to glorify Him and to do His will. My values are concrete, my physical characteristics and my social status are unimportant, and my purpose is divine.