Christ in me?

H.A. Williams writes, "The more God gives me his grace, the more I am myself. The more I discover the greater than me within me, the more I discover that the greater than me is authentically me."

I struggled with this for a few minutes not wanting to make too much of myself or commit any sort of heresy by saying that I am any way divine. Truth of the matter is that I am fallible and weak and broken. Last night I seemed to be unable to behave in a manner that did not upset my son, daughters, or wife. I struggle to maintain discipline in our home while remaining gentle and kind--sometimes that balance is tenuous.

But as I said, I struggled with these words from Williams until I remembered John 1:35-42. Peter simply heard John call Jesus "the Lamb of God," and he immediately followed, staying with him and the next telling others that Jesus was the Messiah. It spoke to me of humanity's hunger for God. We all have an innate desire to know God and to have God in our lives. It is simply how we have been created--for relationship, with others, but especially with God. Peter recognized that need within him to be in relationship with God was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and was changed by it.

In a similar way, as we recognize that "God-shaped hole" within us, we see ourselves in a truer light. And as that hole is filled by God in our lives, we are more authentically human because we more clearly understand ourselves and need for relationship with God. We are more ourselves when we live in relationship with God, embracing the life He sets before us in obedience, humility, and grace, but most of all...a relationship with Christ.