Meeting “Me”

For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
 I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14

I had no saying in the family I was born into, and that singular fact shapes many factors that got me where I am today. I didn’t get to choose the color of my skin, the texture of my hair, or the color of my eyes. They are all part of the package that makes up my physical attributes. However, these things don’t define me.

In a world where everyone builds a box to put “me” in — the box of race, affluence, gender, fame, geography, marriage, motherhood, Church denomination, etc., I must define “me” through the eyes of the one who made me. I am more than a woman, daughter, wife, mother, etc. The only name that fits me is whom God called me — the daughter of the Most High.

There are so many layers to the mountain of complexities that sum up my life. Layers unraveled by seasons of pain, moments of happiness, bright colors, and gray areas. There is simply no way any human or single factor can define me. I am born out of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and live my life through the working grace of the Holy Spirit.

The struggles and confusion that ensue in the quest to “find yourself” stem from a place of perplexity that cannot be soothed until you find your way to the foot of the cross. Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” As Christians, we live in the reality of who we truly are because we are completed through salvation.

I met “Me” the day I met Jesus and found my identity at the foot of the cross. At Calvary, I saw myself through the eyes of a loving Father who continually delights in me. I am no longer bound by the chains that held me captive to my sins, leaving me wondering like a lost child because God’s grace is sufficient for me. You can push, pull, and shove me; I’ll always land in the safe hands of Jesus.