Not What I Was

This beautiful artwork was created by the very talented Julie Chen.
Please visit her store and gallery here.

I ought to speak with ever increasing love.

But I am not what I ought to be.

I wish to exude patience.

But I am not what I wish to be.

I hope to be an excellent ambassador of Christ.

But as of yet, I am not even what I hope to be.

But by the cross of Christ,

I see that love means sacrifice, even to death.

I see that patience means waiting long—very, very long.

I see that excellence means perfection in all things.

And I see I have fallen short by all accounts.

There on my knees at the cross,

Wrecked by what I cannot do and have not done,

Christ Jesus offers an exchange.

For my failed “ought-to be,” He crowns me with love.

For my lost “wish-to-be,” He lavishes patience.

For my striving “hope-to-be,” He declares, “I have done it.”

And because I rest in this great exchange…

I am not what I was.