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Who Are You, Why Are You Here, Where Are You Going? You can't believe the pain as he expressed his concern... By Al Menconi August 26, 2008

There is nothing more difficult than watching helplessly as your child is hurting. I recently had a conversation with a friend about his adult daughter. She had grown tired of being married to her husband of less than a year and was leaving him to have an affair with a co-worker. I have never seen my friend cry in all the years I've known him, but he was sobbing at our table in the middle of a restaurant as he shared his heartache with me.

She said she "needed space" and she needed to "find out who she really is." Here is a young woman who was the "perfect" child. She never missed Sunday school and was a star student at her Christian high school. She graduated with honors from a strong Christian college. She was never a rebellious child nor a discipline problem. Her parents were led to believe everything was just fine. Obviously it wasn't!

It is obvious this young lady was struggling with life's four basic questions:

1) Who am I?

2) Why am I here?

3) Where am I going? and

4) What is true?

How we answer these questions will dictate our attitudes and choices in life. But for the committed Christian, the answers are clear:

1) We are children of God.

2) We are here to glorify God.

3) We are going to give an account for our life.  And

4) The Bible is true.

The vast majority of the population--including my friend's daughter and many Christians - are terribly confused when it comes to these issues. Why? I believe a key reason is that we accept the misinformation given to us in our entertainment.

Who are we? Some of today's most popular music, movies, and television programs reinforce the lie that we are simply animals without a soul. We are the children of God, who have hope because he sets us free from all the world's traps!

Why are we here? According to most of today's entertainment, we are here solely to find personal pleasure and instant gratification. "Look out for number one because nobody's going to look out for you." This is a major theme in today's entertainment media, but is this really why we are here on earth? No. Our purpose is to please God, not self.

Where are we going? Most of today's entertainment doesn't acknowledge an afterlife. Death is treated as if there was no heaven and no hell. Most of the entertainment media is like the fool in the Bible that lived by the principle of "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." But is that all there is? God's Word tells us one day everyone will give an account of what they have done with their life on earth. Death is not the end. It is just the beginning.

It's not enough to be a well-behaved child. Our children must be equipped to face the hard realities of life. If our children are going to be firmly established in life, we must do more than tell them to be "good and obedient." We must continually communicate to them who they are, why they are here, where they are going, and what is truth.