Sunday Message · Fountain of Grace International · Pretoria North
You Don't Know Who You Are Yet
You have been living by an identity built from your worst moments, from what people said about you, and from what life has done to you. None of that is who God says you are. This message is about the gap between the version of you that was shaped by pressure and the version God has been forming since before you were born.
Pastor Ricardo Zaal · Fountain of Grace International, Pretoria North · 3 May 2026
Most people carry an identity they never chose. It was handed to them by the family they grew up in, the school they attended, the relationship that broke them, or the failure they could not recover from. They have been living as a reduced version of themselves ever since - not because they are broken, but because nobody ever showed them the real picture.
The Bible shows a consistent pattern: God addresses people by who they are becoming, not who they currently appear to be. He did it with Gideon. He did it with Abraham. He did it with Simon Peter. He is doing it with you. The statement is not "you are not who you think you are." It is stronger than that: you have not seen yourself yet.
You Have Been Living Someone Else's Definition of You
Romans 12:2
The world around you has been working to define you since the day you were born. Parents, teachers, failure, rejection, and your own worst moments all contributed a version of who you are. But Romans 12:2 says, "be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." Conformed means shaped by external pressure. Most people's identity was formed under pressure, not by revelation. The real you is not the version that pressure produced.
God Speaks to Who You Are Becoming
Judges 6:12
Gideon was hiding in a winepress - afraid, small, convinced his family was the weakest in Manasseh and that he was the least in his father's house. The angel showed up and said, "The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour." Not who Gideon thought he was. Not who his circumstances said he was. The angel spoke to the identity God had already placed in him that had not yet been activated. This is how God speaks. He names your destiny before you have lived it.
Your Past Is Not Your Identity
2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." The word translated "new" in the Greek is kainos - it means a new kind, a new quality, something that did not exist before. God is not trying to improve the old version of you. He is creating a new one. The reason you keep dragging your past into your future is that no one told you the transaction was complete. In Christ, you are not a repaired version of who you were. You are a different person.
You Are Not Done Yet
Philippians 1:6
"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." The phrase "will perform it" means He will carry it through to completion. The work God started in you has a finishing date - and it is not today. What you see in yourself right now is an incomplete picture. The version of you that emerges from the process God is running in your life is not the version you are looking at in the mirror this morning. You have not seen yourself yet.
"God named Abram as father of nations before he had a single child. He speaks to the finished version of you while you are still in process."
- Pastor Ricardo Zaal
How to Start Living From the Right Identity
Identity is not changed by trying harder. It is changed by what you consistently believe. Three steps that shift identity from the inside:
- Stop agreeing with the old report. Every time you say "I am just like this" or "I always do that," you are signing off on a false identity. Romans 12:2 says transformation comes by renewing your mind - that starts with what you stop accepting as true.
- Find what God says and speak it. The same way Gideon had to accept "mighty man of valour" before he became one, you have to receive what God says about you before it shows up in your behavior. Search the Word for what it calls you as a child of God. Declare it.
- Trust the process, not the current picture. Philippians 1:6 - the work is not finished. What you see in yourself today is incomplete. God is not done. The right response to an unfinished process is not frustration. It is patience and cooperation.
If you are in Pretoria North and want to hear this kind of teaching in person, join us on a Sunday - Fountain of Grace International meets every week at 323 B Danie Theron Street.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I feel like I have no real sense of who I am?
Most people's sense of identity was formed by their environment, the words spoken over them, failures, and how others treated them. None of those are reliable. When identity is built on performance or approval, it keeps shifting. The Bible teaches that true identity is rooted in what God says about you - not what your history says.
What does the Bible say about identity?
Scripture consistently shows God addressing people by who they are becoming, not who they currently appear to be. Gideon was hiding when the angel called him "mighty man of valour." Abram had no children when God named him father of many nations. God sees the finished version of you and speaks to that version while you are still in process.
How do I discover who God says I am?
Romans 12:2 says transformation comes by renewing your mind. Start by finding what the Bible says about you as a child of God, declare it out loud, and stop agreeing with the accusations of the enemy or the limitations of your past. Identity is rebuilt by what you repeatedly hear and believe.
What does "you don't know who you are yet" mean?
It means you are not the finished product. What you have experienced, failed at, and what people called you - none of that is the final word. Philippians 1:6 says He who began a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. The version of you God started is still being completed. You have not seen your full self yet.
Join Us This Sunday
Fountain of Grace International meets every Sunday at 09:00 at 323 B Danie Theron Street, Pretoria North. Come as you are.