Today’s Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:10, NKJV- “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”
Who are we? The person we think we are, the person others think we are, or who God says we are. In Exodus 3:14, God said to Moses “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” (KJB)
Here in 1 Corinthians 15:10, Paul is telling us that we are who we are by the grace of God. We are not who we think we are or even who others think we are. By the grace of God, we are who we are. We have experienced ourselves and attempted to be the people others think we should be and those experiences bring us to God.
When we find and accept that Jesus died for our sins, we begin to find who we are in Christ. Like Paul referred to in 1 Corinthians 15:9, he was the least of the apostles and didn’t even deserve to be an apostle because he had persecuted the church. We all have our because, don’t we? I am not worthy because of my sins and my history.
Surely, I should not speak about the matters of faith because I would be a hypocrite. Look at the messes I have made. Although cliché, God does turn our messes into our message. As we say in Celebrate Recovery, it is ok to not be ok. We only need to receive God’s grace through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Jesus has raised us with His grace to be who we are. Our grace stories are ones of hope. We have witnessed changed lives. As we live for Christ, we become our true selves. We must stand against ourselves and others at times. The purpose of continual prayer and scripture reading is to remind us, as Paul does, that we are not that old self we thought we were.
There are many thieves and robbers of our worth. As John 10:10 states, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (ESV) We must constantly turn away from the thieves, whether that is ourselves or others, and look to the abundant life found in God’s grace.
We find boldness and courage to be our “I am” in fellowship with God’s Word and other believers living who they are. We can encourage each other to live who we are to live a full and abundant life. Together we can guard against the thieves. When we accept, I am what I am in Christ. We live life to the fullest and make this world a better place by encouraging each other to be true to who God created them to me.
Who are you? The Great I AM is sending you to others!
Today’s Prayer: Our Father in Heaven, the great and mighty I AM. We thank You for the grace we have found in Jesus Christ. Thank You for taking us at our least to make us abundant in You. Equip us LORD to battle the thieves who attempt to steal, kill, and destroy who we are in You. Armed with Your might and the grace of Jesus, we live the abundant life that lifts others up to be who You say we are. Amen
Leave a Reply