just as i am

I came to Christ my freshman year of college, but I fell in love with Jesus this year. A lot of my freshman year was navigating why I was doing things I thought I had to do because I was a “Christian”. Sophomore year has be a year of redefinement. Instead of dressing modestly because that’s what Christians did, I realized that Christ wants me to have freedom to live life more abundantly; yes, in dressing modestly, I respect myself, I respect others, but I also respect Jesus, and my relationship with Him. Through exploring my relationship with Him, it has been impossible to not fall more in love with Him – His perfection, His forgiveness, and His unconditional love.

The beautiful thing about Jesus is He doesn’t want the made up version of me or you. He wants us just as we are. We don’t have to get our lives together to become Christians – we become Christians and a result, the Holy Spirit does His job and transforms us. I took my make-up for Jesus this year and realized He saw me beautiful without it – He likes me better without it. I love this about my Savior. He knows I’m not perfect and He doesn’t want me to pretend to be someone that I’m not. It isn’t always easy to walk around without my figurative make-up on, I feel like my insecurities are more exposed, but I am clothed with strength and dignity, and I can laugh at the days to come (Proverbs 31:20). Because Jesus and I have dealt through my crap together, and I am able to better contribute to a Christian community where my vulnerabilities are exposed. I have an invisible clothing – made up of Christ – He clothes me from the world, because I am confident in who He has made me, I can be confident in the way I present myself to others. My identity is not tied to what other people think of my make-upless self, or my crap, it is tied to my perfect Savior who desires me just as I am, completely aware of the crap I carry with me.

My prayer for me and for you this summer is that we be okay with our crap and can see past it and see Christ in ourselves. Christ sees us as beautiful, just the way we are. I pray that you can be in a Christian community that desires realness and authenticity. I pray that we can be confident of ourselves, without make-up on – like the broken little messes that we are. Christ loves us just as we are, so shouldn’t we love ourselves the same way?