According to this ESPN story, that seems to be the question that Jennifer Capriati is having a difficult time answering right now. If you recall, or as the story will remind you, she was a tennis star at around age 13, who after falling out of the game, returned for a while, only to have to retire due to a few injuries.

As a professional athlete, I really feel for her, because I know this isn’t an easy thing. The question of an athlete’s true identity is often difficult to define apart from sports, because when you reach a certain level of success, most people begin to relate to you on the basis of your place as an athlete. Combine this with the tendency of every human heart to identify oneself with what one accomplishes, and athletic success often makes it difficult to really define who you are in any real and lasting fashion.

From a Christian perspective, the only real answer to this concern is Jesus Christ. Sure, as a Christian, I still struggle with viewing myself as God views me, but to a great degree I have found the freedom that I believe only Christ can give, so that when that question arises, “Who am I?”, there is an answer that doesn’t change. Indeed, by God’s grace, He used athletic success in my life to show me that I needed Him.

And interestingly enough, I have found that the more I find my identity and security in Christ, the more free I am to enjoy the game I so love and in turn, the more free I am to play it better. When you aren’t defined by how well you perform, there is much less heat to perform great. There is freedom. And where there is freedom, there should be great play.

Of course, there is more to it than that, but there certainly isn’t less. And even if you aren’t an athlete, you should have compassion for Capriati, because you are just as prone as her to seek your identity in what you do rather than whose you are.