Who I Am

Who am I? No, I am not in a depressed, melancholy mood. But this is a question I need to ponder and consider. For who am I? What is my identity? Without an identity, I have no purpose; then I am only a flitting shadow.

But I am someone. I am who God made me to be. But who is that? I must ask “who” and desist asking “what.” I must stop asking “what” I can be and instead ask “who.” For “who” is personal and alive; “what” makes me sound like a robot. And if I am only a robot, what motives do I have to attain those “what’s”? They seem impossible; they are unattainable, unyielding set standards. And if I am only a robot, then I am exactly as I am and there is no hope of becoming more.

But it is not a question of “what”’; it is a question of “who.” It is personal. I can make the choice; I can grow; I can strive. Most importantly, I – the living, breathing, feeling I – can hope and desire. “What” is out of reach, but “who” is not.

It takes an active decision and effort on my part. God is beckoning, offering, calling – but I must accept. He can only come as far as the cross. I must meet Him there.

Sometimes the “who” does seem beyond my reach. Consider Psalm 15. This is who I should be…who I can be…who God wants me to be. But how can I be? It seems so far-fetched, so unrealistic. I can never be so perfect. I can never meet those standards.

That does not mean I cannot try.

God knows we are not perfect. He knows we cannot attain His standards on our own. But He also does not expect us to. That is why He met us halfway; that is why He provided the cross. He picks up where we can go no further; He fulfills the requirements.

There is hope. Through a personal relationship with Him, by being alive in Christ, I can be the “who” God has offered me. It may not be now; it may not be until I am in heaven, but the “who” is attainable.

So who am I? I know that I do not yet qualify for Psalm 15. Therefore I have not fully become who I could be. And yet, I am who I should be. For I am one who is striving to be all that I can. I am one who stumbles and falls. I am one who repeatedly hits the chutes rather than the ladders. But I am still the one who has met Christ at the cross. I am the one who has the hope to be more than I am. I am not the godly character of Psalm 15, and yet with God’s personal, living, soul-felt help, I can be.

Because I am in Christ – truly, deeply in Him – who I am, is enough.