Identity Isn’t DIY
It was a typical Sunday morning, me, a room full of teenagers, and a stack of colorful playdough containers.
I handed them out one by one and said, “Okay, here’s what I want you to do: take this playdough and shape yourself.”
They looked at me sideways at first. “What do you mean, shape myself?”
“I mean,” I said, “use the playdough to create a version of you. Whatever that looks like. Your strengths, your personality, the way you see yourself or the way you think others see you.”
The room got quiet. Then, slowly, they started to mold. Some added bold features. Some smoothed things down. A few sat still for a moment, staring at the lump in front of them like it was asking bigger questions than they expected.
And honestly, that was the point.
Because shaping yourself with playdough may seem silly until you realize, we’re all doing this every day, but with our actions, our relationships, our social media profiles. Trying to define who we are. Trying to make something that feels real. Trying to mean something.
And I couldn’t help but ask them, and ask myself, “Who gets to shape you? Is it the world around you, or the God who made you in His image?”
The Origin of Identity (Genesis 1 & 2)
The quest for identity didn’t begin with Instagram bios or personality tests. It began in the garden. The Creator shaped humanity from the dust of the earth:
“Then the Lord God formed [that is, created the body of] man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being [an individual complete in body and spirit].” – Genesis 2:7, AMP
From the very start, we didn’t define ourselves; we were defined by the God who formed us.
“Then God said, ‘Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...’” – Genesis 1:26, AMP
This wasn’t a solo project. The Trinity crafted humanity, not from distance, but in divine intimacy, placing in us the imago Dei, the Image of God.
Who We Reflect Is Who We Become
We are image bearers. Not image inventors.
When a statue is built in a public square, it’s not meant to be admired for its own granite brilliance, it points people to the person it represents. That is who we are. The point of an image is to image.
We were created to know, love, and show God.
“What is man that You are mindful of him… Yet You have made him a little lower than God, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.” – Psalm 8:4–5, AMP
Our value isn’t in what we do, it’s in who made us. Every grandmother passing on wisdom, every mother raising children, every Gen Z and Gen Alpha girl navigating anxiety-riddled social feeds, carries a holy imprint.
Where It All Went Wrong
But something cracked. Fast.
“God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good...” – Genesis 1:31, AMP
Yet by chapter three, disobedience enters, and the image is distorted, not destroyed. Sin didn't erase the imago Dei, it marred the mirror.
Cultural confusion about identity today is an echo of the Garden’s deception: “Did God really say?” And still, we answer that lie when we try to manufacture our identities through social approval, achievements, or appearance.
We often look horizontally, at jobs, relationships, social media, when Scripture tells us our vertical identity in Christ is what’s true and eternal.
Who We’re Meant to See – Jesus
The story doesn’t end in distortion. God didn’t leave the image fractured.
God made the first move, He didn’t just show us who He was; He became us:
“He [Jesus] is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God—the visible representation of the invisible...” – Colossians 1:15, AMP
Jesus is not just in the image of God, He is the image of God. And we are being remade in His likeness every day.
Because of Jesus…
Our distorted reflection is being restored.
Our broken identity is being rebuilt.
Our shame is being covered in grace.
Through Christ, you no longer shop for identity. You receive it. And what do you receive?
A divine dignity (You matter because He made you.)
A holy calling (You image God wherever you go.)
A Family of Reflectors
Women, this is not a message just for your daughters. It’s for your mothers and your mothers’ mothers.
Across generations—Gen Alpha, Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers—our truest identity doesn't change. We were made to reflect the Creator. That calling is eternally relevant, profoundly powerful, and joyfully liberating.
You don’t need to reinvent yourself to be worthy. You just need to reconnect with the One who made you.
As image bearers, we don’t climb ladders. We carry mirrors.
Stop and consider:
In what ways are you tempted to “shop” for your identity horizontally?
How does knowing you're made in the image of God reshape the way you view your struggles, roles, or relationships?
How can you reflect God's character more clearly in your current season of life?
What areas in your heart or habits need to be restored into Christ’s likeness?
Whether you're 17 or 71, your reflection of God’s image is needed in this world. Don’t let culture define you. Let the cross shape you.
Let us rise as women, image carriers and glory reflectors, who mirror heaven on earth.
