Who are you? What is your identity?
Identity, purpose and meaning are found by many in what they do, who they surround themselves with, or what brings them success. It might be a career, hobby, family, money, fame, there are countless things in this world that people would point to and say, “that is my identity.”
This remains true for student-athletes at SDSU. Whether they are a football player, basketball player, tennis player or soccer player, many find their identity in their sport and in the success they achieve in it. But what happens to that identity when they can no longer play that sport? For a group of student-athletes at SDSU, they have found a new identity, one that is not about them or what they can do but rather about what has already been done. This new identity is found in Jesus Christ.
“The death and resurrection of Jesus, allowing me to be free from my sin and having my identity in an unshakable stronghold,” Christian Jones, former player of the SDSU football team, said. “Football will only last so long, school all that can only last for so long, but having my faith in Jesus has really allowed me to have confidence as a man coming up in this world and also being able to give my all in everything that I do.”
Bailey Barnhard, a sophomore on the women’s basketball team, said that her freshman year, she had made basketball her identity. Meaning that win or lose, good game or bad game, her identity was shaped by the outcome of her on-court success. It wasn’t until she gave her life to Jesus that she found her true identity.
“When I accepted Christ in April [2025], I made him the center of my life and my identity. So now basketball is a way of worship, using the gifts God gave me to spread the Gospel. I see playing basketball as something I do for Him and not for myself,” Barnhard said.
Basketball for Barnhard became an idol, something that she had to destroy if she wanted peace in her life.
“There was something that somebody in my Bible Study said where anytime that you think of something that’s becoming an idol in your life to pray for God to remove that idol,” she said. “For me, that was basketball, which became an idol for me, and so praying for Him to remove that and remind me who is at the center of it all.”
Her journey to Jesus is similar to that of many people; she grew up in a family that went to church every Sunday, but outside of that, she never really got involved in or sought out a relationship with Him. It wasn’t until coming to SDSU that she sought out the Lord and wanted to find a community of fellowship.
“I was probably the farthest away from God coming into college, and it was some of my teammates and the older girls who helped me find faith,” Barnhard said. “Our team did Bible studies every Friday during the season together to just get into the word and grow together as individuals.”
It’s that real community of believers who love and care for each other unconditionally that has drawn people like Barnhard closer to God through the people she surrounds herself with.
“Ultimately, I wouldn’t be as close to God right now if it weren’t for my teammates and the people that I surround myself with, who have helped me grow in my relationship with the Lord,” she said. “A verse I’ll always go back to is 1 Thessalonians 5:18,‘Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.’”
That community of like-minded and like-hearted believers has not only impacted Barnhard and her teammates on the women’s basketball team but has flowed throughout SDSU athletics.
Christian Jones arrived at SDSU in 2021, coming out of high school in San Luis Obispo. Jones grew up in a Christian household, going to church on Sundays and a youth group, but says he never truly understood what his beliefs were.
It wasn’t until middle school that Jones says he came across a group of boys in the hallway praying, which affected him deeply and led him to take his faith seriously and truly explore a relationship with God.
“My confidence has come a long way from just being sharpened by my brothers in Christ, especially when I came here, I found a strong faith community,” Jones said. “For me, it was spending more time in the Word with them and actually knowing what I’m talking about.”
His teammate, sophomore Prince Williams, says that faith and a relationship with God are like going to the gym: the more consistent you are and the more effort you put in, the more you will begin to see a change in your life.
“You gotta be consistent all of life, you got to be consistent in your faith, not just going to church but being with God and talking with God every day because that’s your own personal connection with Him,” Williams said. “Trying to spread the gospel, trying to get his people back out here into the church so that his army is bigger.”
Both Williams and Jones explained that God desires a personal relationship with each and every person, but that it must be two-sided.
“The consistency that I feel his presence brings me is something that no other thing can bring from this world,” Barnhard said. “I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. I’m super on fire for God.”
Barnhard, Jones and Williams also spoke about how accepting Christ and becoming a follower of Jesus doesn’t eliminate the suffering and struggles of the world, but rather provides a new perspective on the struggles and sufferings they endure through Jesus Christ.
“Accepting Christ doesn’t mean that everything is going to be easy from now on,” Barnhard said. “But knowing that he’s always going to be there for me has brought me peace and comfort.”
The change in heart posture and attitude that these men and women have experienced because of their faith in Jesus cannot be explained except by divine revelation.
“No matter what you’ve done in your past, just give yourself to God, and he’ll change the ways of your heart,” Barnhard said.
“He died for our sins, he took all our sins and iniquities down into hell, and you don’t know anybody else that can do that and rise again with no impurity on them,” Williams said.
