There may be no more important issue facing parents today than helping their children discover the biblical answer to the question “Who am I?”
The book Grounded in Grace: Helping Kids Build Their Identity in Christ, written by seasoned biblical counselor Jonathan Holmes, explains that our current culture encourages young people to create their own identity by looking within themselves, drawing from their emotions and feelings to define who they are. This, he notes, often leads to incoherence and confusion.
Grounded in Grace offers a roadmap to parents so they can understand the identity struggles their children are face. Jonathan explains how parents can help their kids dismiss unhealthy societal pressures and instead embrace knowing that they are created in God’s image and will experience His joy and peace when they establish their identity in Christ.
Jonathan makes clear the contrast between the modern “self-identity” narrative and biblical truth:
A gospel identity comes from outside of us and relies on the unchanging, steadfast words of a God who is the final authority. …
… He creates us in his image, redeems us from sin, and brings us into his family. The identity he gives us is bigger than ourselves, more permanent than anything we could ever imagine, and true today and forever regardless of our circumstances or situations.
Grounded in Grace explores the most common areas of identity struggle: athletic performance, academic performance, morality, sexual orientation, and gender confusion. A full chapter is dedicated to exploring each of these five issues in depth and includes real-life examples to help parents better understand each issue’s complexities. The chapters also provide discussion prompts for how to open the door to meaningful conversations and suggestions for navigating tough questions about self-worth and peer pressure.
If you have teenage or young-adult children or grandchildren, or if you work in youth ministry or teach, Grounded in Grace will help you nurture and guide those you love to understand who they are in Christ.
