The Real Me

I see it on church bill boards all the time. It's kind of a catchphrase for churches right now. "Real Faith. Real People." (Any churches that use this...I am not bashing you for it!!!) That got me to thinking what is real? So today, I'm going to be real. As real as I can be about who I am and who I am in Jesus.

I am a pastor's wife, therefore I don't gamble, lie or cheat, but that doesn't make me good. Swear words are not even in my vocabulary...I never picked them up as kid, so I've never struggled to get them out. I don't drink, not because it makes me a better person than you but rather because I see it as a gateway to evil. I don't gossip because I've seen too many lives destroyed by it. To the world around me, I'm a perfect in the box kind of Christian that most people are watching and waiting to see mess up.

So here it is...while all of that is real...so is this...

I'm a dirty rotten sinner. My best will never be good, according to the Word of GOD. I don't pray enough. Read enough. Love enough. Give enough. Serve enough. I'm selfish, judgmental, even contentious at times (just ask my husband). I get angry and while I try not to sin, I don't always accomplish this. I could be a better wife. A better mother. A better keep of my home. A better homeschooler. I struggle with being diligent in all that I do (that post coming soon)! I lack in so many areas it's shameful really. None of these are things I'm proud of...yet, they are me...the real me...and it is nothing more than a shadow of who I want to be. That's real.

However, so is this...

In Christ, I am reborn! I am ALIVE!!! I am a NEW creature. My heart is HIS home! I am an overcomer. I am a joint heir to the throne of the Living GOD! I am pure! I am holy! I am loved! I am shown mercy each day I wake up with breath in my body! I can because HE can! I am exactly who HE created me to be...everyday I try my very best to be better than the day before! I am forgiven and I try to forgive as just as HE forgave me. I come short on so many levels, yet it is not I, but Christ my Heavenly Father sees when He looks at me.

What about you and your struggles? Who is the real you?