We Find Our True Selves in Jesus Christ

Friends,

Most of us will spend a lifetime studying ourselves and still not know who we really are.

We may remember our own history. We may know what we enjoy, what disappoints us, and what we hope for. These things matter. But we didn't create ourselves, and none of us can know our true natures strictly through observations and events.

The only way to really know ourselves is in our Lord, Jesus Christ. He created us. He knows what He placed in us, what sin has damaged, and what is still hidden. He also knows who we really are and what our lives can become in His hands.

In my last letter, I wrote that the Church belongs to Jesus Christ. So do we. The Church cannot fulfill its purpose apart from Him, and neither can we.

Created by Him and for Him

Paul wrote of Jesus Christ:

Our lives did not merely begin with Him. They belong with Him. We were made to know and love our Creator, and to receive direction from Him in every part of our lives.

There is great comfort in the knowledge that we do not have to invent a reason for our existence. We have been given life by One who knows its purpose. As we learn His word and put it into practice, we begin to understand what that means for the life in front of us.

Christ Tells Us the Truth About Ourselves

Coming to Jesus Christ means leaving behind any lies about ourselves. They may be lies we were told by wayward parents or lies we made up for ourselves.

You may have spent years thinking, “That is just how I am.” Perhaps a terrible occurrence prompted the manufacturing of a softer story to get through things. Most of us were born into such a tangled web of societal lies that it became impossible to separate ourselves from our assigned identity and really know who we are.

He knows who we are. He sees everything. And to help us find the truth of our lives, all He asks is that we repent of our sins and follow Him.

If we will but cast off our mistaken identities and our manufactured lives, we will have an opportunity to hear the truth.

He knows us, and He calls us to follow Him. That gives us enough grace to be honest before Him, even about the things we are uncomfortable with.

Losing Our Life and Finding It

Jesus taught:

It may sound frightening if we believe surrender means becoming less individualistic. But He is calling us not to be drones, but to be our true selves, created in His image and built for a life in the heavens with Him.

Following Christ does not take away from us or our individuality. It accomplishes quite the opposite. As a former atheist, I can testify that following Jesus Christ with all of my heart replaced parts of my soul that were lost and healed things within me that seemed forever broken. He gave me back everything that I had lost along the way.

Paul described this life:

Paul had not ceased to live. He had entrusted his life to the Lord who loved him and gave Himself for him. Giving ourselves to Christ is how we find the life we could not secure by holding it back.

The Author and Finisher

We cannot be our true selves on our own. There are things the Lord sees in us that we have not yet recognized, and things He can accomplish that we could never accomplish alone. He knows where He is leading us, even when we can see only what He is asking of us today.

Our task is to repent and keep following Him: repent when He chastises us and keep our covenants when it would be easier to set them aside. We learn to love through the ordinary responsibilities of family, fellowship, and service. Much of His work in us takes place there.

I don't want a faith that leaves me unchanged. I want the Lord to correct the things I cannot see and strengthen the part of me that I simply cannot strengthen on my own.

We cannot simply ask Christ to bless a life we intend to keep beyond His reach. He must have the direction of it, including the plans and habits we have been reluctant to bring before Him.

I bear witness that Jesus Christ knows us and loves us enough to tell us the truth. We can trust His correction and His mercy. He can make of our lives what we could never make by ourselves.