Knowing who you are, understanding your identity can only come about by understanding who created you. We don’t define ourselves, we don’t determine our identity- only God can do that. I think this is why there is so much confusion in the world about identity- people are making it up themselves with the help of the devil and the cheering of a broken world.
When we accept and embrace Jesus and His grace and salvation, we become a child of God - and His Spirit moves in to our lives to help us - to fill us with grace, truth and love, and to heal us and make us whole. Some of this happens instantly, and some is a process that we choose to follow… or not.
When we don’t look to the Lord to fill our empty places, we become vulnerable to letting all kinds of “stuff” into our hearts. We give people power over us that they cannot handle and do not deserve, and they will hurt us. Only God can be trusted to always do what is best for us. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5 NLT