Who Do You Say I Am, Lord?

So I have a question for y'all: How do you see yourselves? On a daily basis how do you see yourself? I ask this because a couple of days ago someone had told me they thought I was a great person, kind, caring blah, blah, blah. While I appreciated the complement, all I could think was no I am not! You don't know me! You don't know what I am REALLY like! Who I REALLY am! I tried to tell this person that I was not that kind. That I have my moments of selfishness; moments that I am an absolutely horrible person. See, I have these tendencies to be someone who is completely opposite of good, kind, and caring. So this morning, I was reflecting on this (I do a lot of reflecting!!), and I thought about the difference between how I see myself and how God sees me. How I see myself: broken, selfish, lonely, hurt, sinful, unworthy, in hiding, hurt, and full of secrets. As I thought about this, I thought no, this is who I USED to be. This is who I am apart from Christ. This is who I WOULD be if I hadn't been purchased by the blood of Christ. This is my flesh. And more importantly, this is a LIE. The problem is, I cannot forget my past. I cannot forget my sin. Last night, someone asked me a profound question (I don't know if you realized how profound this question really was, but it has been on my mind since last night): "Don't you wish you could forget some things?" My answer: Oh heck yes, I do. I wish all the time I could forget my past sins, mistakes, failures, my "what was I thinking moments?", my old self that was separated from God. That I could forget the way that I used to be, so I could embrace the way that I was MADE to be. Full and complete in the presence of Almighty God. God forgot so why can't I? (See Ps. 103) I wish with all my heart to realize that I am redeemed. That I don't have to live like I used to, apart from God. That I have been purchased and made free from the bonds of sin and death. There is a song called Finally Free "And if the Son has set us free, then we must be free indeed. Let the chains fall away starting today! Everything has changed; I'm finally free." (See John 8:34-36) "So now there is no condemnation for those of you who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death." (Rom. 8:1-2) So, who does God say I am? Who does God say you are? How does God see us? "Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do and it gave Him great pleasure. SO we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding." (Eph. 1:4-8) See, through Jesus Christ, God has made us completely new, and we can really live in a way that pleases Him. Will we fall? Occasionally. Will we still have a slip up? Probably. Will Satan come and try to get us to believe that we are still the way we used to be before Christ? Oh most definitely. But that is the beautiful thing about grace and truth. God is truth, and He is graciousness. Live in freedom, my dear people. Live in the love of Christ for the rest of your days. It truly is the best way. So what conclusion did I come to? Who God says I am far outweighs who I used to be. Also, I came to realize that there is nothing too great for His redemptive grace. Also, that the Holy Spirit is truly cultivating the fruits of the Spirit in me (this never ceases to amaze me! I mean, me, Deandra M. Carter, am becoming a new creation caring, full of kindness, and unconditional love... go figure!) How God sees me (and you): Whole, complete, free, full of the Holy Spirit, redeemed, loved, purchased, beautiful, and worthy (Add more words here!). "By His divine nature, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises (Insert Promises by Sanctus Real here "Just hold on to the promises, hold on to the promises..."). These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires..." (2 Pet. 1:3-4 continue reading through v. 8-- it is good stuff!) "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" (2 Cor 5:17) "You were dead because of your sins and your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all of your sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross." (Col. 2:13-15) "...This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault." (Col 1:21-22) See also: Hebrews 4:15-16, Heb. 10:19-25, Col. 2:10 (talks about being complete), Eph 3:14-20 (ah, the deep, deep love of Christ! Isn't it cool though? Christ loves us so much). Jer 31:3.