1. Identity
A Sense of Who You Are

2. What makes up your identity?
Combination of personality, abilities, strengths, weaknesses, interests, and values
Continually shaped by every experience
Never final
Ultimately a mystery
Composed of millions of bits of information

3. Why is it important to develop a sense of who you are?
Helps us make better choices
College
Career
Family
Helps us deepen and develop our relationships
Gives us a greater appreciation for ourselves and others
Self-esteem: an understanding of our own worth and an attitude of cherishing ourselves

4. Story of Zach
What are some of Zach’s personality traits?
Which ones does Zach recognize?
Which ones does Lisa draw out?

5. Knowing Yourself What am I feeling? What do I want?
What are people telling me?
What are my talents?
What is out of my control? What is within my limited control?

6. What am I feeling?
What do you remember about feelings?

7. Feelings
Can be friends or dictators
Do not let them take over

8. Make a list of 5 things that you really want either today or in the near future.

9. What do you want? Know wants and desires
Need to know what we truly want
Society constantly tells us what we want
Forms our identity and shapes our life

10. Make a list of characteristics that you think teachers would use to describe you.

11. How does this make you feel?
What do we need to do to change that?

12. What are people telling you?
Relationships provide millions of pieces of data about you
All of these pieces contribute to a sense of who you are
Must examine what we learn about ourselves from others
Ex: wild trouble maker
Ex: Blue eyed/Brown eyed experiment

13. What are your talents? Talent: ability or aptitude that has value
Gift in the sense that you are born with it
Not always physical or intellectual
Can be aspects of our personality
Listening
Compassionate

14. What is out of our control?
The gifts/talents we are born with
What we do with our talents is within our limited control

15. Certain factors that are out of our control
Cosmic: born, die, natural disasters
Genetic: genes affect our appearance, health, aptitudes, talents, personality traits
Cultural: family, country, region, particular, religious, ethnic, economic setting
Circumstantial: major historic events, accidents, chance meetings affect us, shape us

16. We have some control over how we respond to these
Move with the grace of God

17. Healthy ability to shape life and actions
Autonomy
Healthy ability to shape life and actions

18. Why is it important to develop autonomy?
Acting responsibly and shaping your own affairs brings about a more secure sense of identity

19. What does autonomy involve?
Making choices that have consequences-realizing that you have to live with the consequences
Making choices according to our best understanding of things
Interdependence: delicate and healthy blend of independence and dependence

20. Gaining Independence from Family
Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, financially independent of parents

21. 2 Kinds of False Autonomy
Groupthink: make a sharp break from parents and
Take on a different group’s thoughts/ideas
Trading one form of dependency for another
Pregnancy or Marriage
Similar to groupthink
See it as a way to escape their family

22. Learning Interdependence
Capable of give and take
Trusting themselves and others

23. Lessons of Interdependence
Be sensitive to the needs of others
Consider others points of views
and, when necessary, to change
Becoming aware of own resources so you are confident, not threatened,
when involved in conflict
Recognizing we need help

24. Freedom “Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose.”
Who is the person in society who has nothing left to lose?

25. Christian Freedom
We can see the big picture beyond our own narrow interests, and are able to respond to the needs of real situations and real people
Include responsibility
We grow and express ourselves within the context of others needs as well as our own

26. Christian Freedom
Acting freely means that we consider the entire situation and respond according to the good for all
Freedom is seen in the context of freedom from sin and freedom to love

27. Personal Power
The ability to influence our own life and the people and events around us
Christians are meant to be powerful people who empower others
We need power
The deprivation of power, can lead to violence and tragedy