The gift of being yourself

I have to share these thoughts from the book The Gift of Being Yourself by David Benner. He's written some excellent books about identity in Christ and living out of our relationship with Him (although I'm still partial to Brennan Manning's writings because they feel more raw and real to me). Here's what he has to say about the true/false self:

We do not find our true self by seeking it. Rather, we find it by seeking God. For as I have said, in finding God we find our truest and deepest self. The anthropological question (Who am I?) and the theological question (Who is God?) are fundamentally inseparable. It is by losing our self in God that we discover our true identity.

There is no true life apart from relationship to God. Therefore there can be no true self apart from this relationship. The foundation of our identity resides in our life-giving relationship with the Source of life. Any identity that exists apart from this relationship is an illusion.