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People always joke about how 40-year-olds go through a mid-life crisis—where they seem to search for their identity by trying new hobbies like skydiving or buying red sports cars. But I think young people like you and I are the ones having the serious identity crisis right now.

Two years ago, when I was 14, I released my first CD, Inside Out, and began touring the country with Christ in Youth's Jr. High "Believe" tour. It was a fantastic opportunity for me. Not only did I get to learn all the ins-and-outs of being out on the road, but I also had the chance to meet thousands of kids from coast to coast.What I learned was a big surprise to me. There are a lot of us out there that are truly hurting.

My website had a message board at the time where kids could leave me messages as well as chat with each other. It was amazing what people my age were dealing with. There were a lot of broken hearts from divorce and step-parents, a lot of peer pressure, and a lot of insecurity. Many kids were talking about cutting and some even about suicide.

Last year, I began to work on a new CD. I really wanted this CD to speak to the issues of kids my age, so I began by listing as many things as I could think of that my friends and I are going through. Some were the good things like friendship, sports, fun, or video games, but what I really wanted to focus on were a lot of the tough things kids my age were dealing with: everything from school pressure to peer pressure to alcohol and drugs to purity. The list went on and on. When I finished and looked at it, I realized that almost everything I wrote dealt with identity. Where is your identity? What is it that you think makes you important? What are you willing to do to become important to someone else? It seemed like kids were only listening to what the world had to say to them. It was right then that I realized my generation was having a serious identity crisis.

So, I set out to make every song on my new CD circle around the theme of identity. I want kids to know that they don't have to believe what the world is screaming at them, that they need to be cool or thin or athletic or smart to be important or loved. I want them to know that they don't need to act a certain way for their friends, give into their boyfriend's requests, or look like the magazine covers to feel good or have worth. I want to tell them that because of what Christ has already done for them, they can be forgiven and set free. They can be loved and accepted by God and their lives have value and worth no matter how athletic they are or what grades they get!

My second CD, Identity, is finished and I'm out on the road again, singing my music and meeting more awesome people. I'm trying to do my part to get the message out, but to tell you the truth, I'm glad I'm hearing that message over and over because I need to remember it, too.

Robert's new album Identity (thinkaboutit records) releases in February. However, an exclusive CD of 10 songs from Identity is now available to Family Christian Store shoppers who donate $10 to the James Fund, a non-profit organization that meets the needs of orphans around the world. Ignite Your Faith is doing an exclusive giveaway with Robert. Enter here to win an autographed basketball, a CD, and more.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today/Ignite Your Faith magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Ignite Your Faith.

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