Affirmation #58 by Susan L.

  "I am complete in Christ." Colossians 2:10

  In home church we discussed 1 John 4. It's all about love and the perfecting qualities of God's love. It's a verse that makes me squirm in discomfort. It's also a verse I've struggled with because of this:
  "But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18
  Ergo, I fear. A lot. Therefore I am not perfect. I have felt condemned, inadequate, and unworthy whenever I've read this particular passage.
  On Tuesday, for the first time, I heard the compassion I believe this sentence was written with. I could almost see John's tears as he wrote it down so many years ago. I heard the grace of God in the spaces between the words, filling the gaps. I felt the sorrow that human understandings of love hinders my ability to embrace a Love that is beyond comprehension. It is beyond most of the "love" experiences I have had in this ole world.
  It has brought me a great deal of peace.
  Why?
  Because it's okay if I mostly don't get it. Today, anyways. My prayer is that one day I will.
  This sets me free to live in the identity of who I am a this very moment; to be the person God predestined me to be right now. Fears and all. I don't have to wait until I think I am perfect or acceptable to Him because, if the truth be told, that will never happen as long as my feet tread the dust of the world.
  In the end, even though I get hijacked by fears, I no longer have to be afraid.
  Today, in this very moment, with each breath, with each tick of the second hand on the clock, I am complete in Christ. Tomorrow, after learning more, surrendering more, I am complete. And in the next hour and the next day and the next month, I will be completed all over again.
  Completion isn't a destination. It's a gift of freedom, of security, of living in and through the love of God.
  Wow. This is one of those forever changed moments. Thank You, Lord for lifting a weight from my heart.
  "For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority." (JCB) Col 2:9-10