I am whom I am today because of whom
Christ is every day. I am nothing particularly wonderful, of my own
worth. Throughout my life, I have been a selfish person.
I grew up learning to acquire my own
desires, looking out for myself before others, and most often just
seeing my own needs while ignoring the needs of others. So, you can see
that I was not a good man. I was not someone who would give of myself
for the needs of others. I was not chosen because of my worth.
I might tell you my story in a few short sentences.
I might say: One day, God looked out over
the world and said, I think I will make something worthless beautiful,
today. And God put His hand down into the slimy part of humanity,
brought me up, and cleaned me and made me useful and beautiful.
God chose me because I needed Him, not
because He needed me. God could have left me in the condition I was and
still accomplished His purpose. God chose me to be one of His children
because God loves all people.
There is power in prayer. I did not know,
but my mother prayed for me every night. Prayer works. I am here because
my mother, showing God's love, prayed for me.
I was going through a rough time. My
girlfriend had dumped me, I had no job, and my life had no purpose. I
was living a sad existence devoted to trying to please myself. And do
you know? I wasn't happy. I didn't know, but I needed God. I did not
find God at a church service. I wasn't going to church. I didn't meet
God in a brush with death. The only danger I faced was Hell.
God meets us where we are. Over a period
of months, God showed me that I was not sufficient to meet my own needs.
I needed God. He met me where I was. And one night, I accepted His gift:
for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
God so loved me, unworthy as I was, that He gave His only begotten Son,
and I believe in Him, and I shall not perish, but shall have everlasting
life. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.
I am a new creation. No more do I ignore
the needs of others. Now, I help where I can. No more do I push others
aside to gain my own pleasures. Now, I let others go, and I wait my
turn. No more do I seek self-serving ends. Now, I seek to serve God.
I am not what I am today because I was
good. I am what I am today because, even though I do not deserve it, God
has extended His grace and love to all the world, even to one such as I.
Because of God's love, my life has a purpose. God is loving and just and
holy.
I am whom I am today because of whom God is every day.