Complete in Christ

I wonder if there exists a person who does not long to hear something about who they are from someone.  Regardless of what it is, negative or positive, encouraging or discouraging, does such a person really, truly exist?  I, by no means, am negating the power of uplifting words or the power of God to work through us.  I whole-heartedly believe that words have both the power to give and take away life.  What I am getting at is how much importance you are placing on those words and from whom they come.

I come from a family upbringing that doesn’t accept anything except the best - perfection, really.  As a child, I didn’t recognize the way this was molding me, but over the last few days (although there have been nudges from people over the last several months) – I have been made more aware of how much that has taken away from my ability to see myself as whole in Christ.  I so often negated my strengths because I didn’t think they were good enough.  I asked myself over and over again: Am I good enough?  Am I acceptable?  Am I a good enough daughter, mom, soldier, therapist, friend? What can I do to BE better? … To gain your approval or praise?  … To hear “well done, good and faithful servant” from a person.   And then it hit me: It really doesn’t matter who you say I am or who you think I am.  What matters is who I am in Christ.  Even with all of my “lack of genius” moments (read “stupid”), I am still human.  There is absolutely nothing I can do to change that… well, I don’t think so, at least in this day and age… maybe with a time machine I could change… but anyways, I digress.  What matters is the truth.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).  I’m sure some of you are thinking… “Yeah, I’ve heard that before… nothing new there.”  But, have you read the following verse.  Come on, really read it and understood what it meant?

John 3:17 - For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

And just in case we don’t get the message in the book of John, Paul helps us understand the significance of Jesus’ resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:10 – “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”  He goes on to write in Galatians 1:10 – “Am I not trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”  

I like Paul's writing.  I can just picture him now - kicking up the dirt, frustrated with himself “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. [I think of all of the “lack of genius” moments that I have.] And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature [yup, pretty much]. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.  [and the kicker] – Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." (Romans 7:15-20). 

I am so glad that Paul's struggles are shared in the Bible.  There's something so human about it.  I think of all of the times that I fall back into a sinful pattern and I beat myself up for it.  I forget the simplest of truths - that God still loves me.  I need only to remember that one thing. 

And ultimately, I've come to the conclusion that I'm okay with not having my identity confirmed by n the people or things of this world. Romans 8:1 – 2 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

So, I may not be perfect in the eyes of people.  But, I’m okay with that.  Day-by-day, I grow in the acceptance of being okay with who I am in Christ… and not in the eyes of my selfish, silly, sometimes-not-so-smart self.  Because God not only created humans, He became human … HUMAN!!!  And guess what, that’s what I am – an imperfect, sinful human being… and if it’s good enough for God, it’s good enough for me, too.