I Am What I Am!

I 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.

I like me! What? You don’t like me?! It’s okay because God likes me! ---Kirk Franklin

It’s a liberating moment when you can soberly say, ‘I like who I am.” I like what Steve Harvey said on twitter the other day, “I was who I was and I am who I am and I’m okay with both.” What Steve was not able to go into detail about was God’s grace. There is a bridge that gets us over ourselves called grace and it takes us to a better version of ourselves. We are all on a journey of getting comfortable in our own skin. Someone said the older we get the more we look like ourselves. We reach a point where we can say, “I am what I am by the grace of God.”

Paul said, “His (God’s) grace was not without effect.” In other words something happened as a result of Gods’ kindness in my life. Once he showed me the errors of my ways and gave me a second chance, I’ve been catapulted into a sense of purpose and self actualization. God didn’t waste his grace on me for me to go backwards or stand still. I am who I am by God’s grace. I like where I am in him and because of that….

“I work harder than all of them.” The Apostle Paul talks about being the last Apostle to physically see Jesus and how Jesus transformed him into one of the hardest working Apostles even though he was the worst sinner. Paul was talking about how hard he worked for God after he had received grace in 2 Corinthians 11:23. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

I was reading about Rihanna in Vogue magazine. She said she works relentlessly with interviews, photo shoots, exercising with her personal trainer, traveling across the globe because she’s reminded of the grace of being discovered in Barbados and taken in by a family in Connecticut and being signed to a record company. Everyone expected her to be a one hit wonder, so now she works harder to prove them wrong. We work harder because God proved us right. I don’t want to let God down because, I like who I am in him. I am who I am.

Dear God,
Keep me day by day in a pure and perfect way. Lord keep my body strong so that I can do no wrong. Thank you for your Grace just to run this Christian race to a building not made by hands. I like me but I really love you Lord.

In Jesus Name,
Amen