“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10). “I am what I am” is often used as an excuse for the stubborn and cowardly refusal to accept responsibility for improving who we are. But I do not believe that Paul was using this phrase in this way, and especially not because he gives credit to the grace of God that he is who he is. “I am what I am” for Paul is a humble acknowledgement of the mercy and goodness of his Savior in making one of the enemies of His church into one of His chosen Apostles. I am what I am is an acknowledgement of the present. By the grace of God we can escape our past selves, and, what’s more, we can break free from the cycle of grief and pain that so often shackles us to the hopeless and helpless notion that we cannot change. By the grace of God, “I am what I am” becomes the exact opposite of the way that most people use it. I am what I am is not an excuse but a ray of hope. I am what I am means that I am not what I was. Why on Earth would we insist on clinging to who we were yesterday? We know better now than we did then. We know that our mistakes from yesterday brought us pain. We should let go of who we are, or else we run the risk of making in vain the grace which is bestowed upon us. Because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we do not have to dwell on who we were, nor worry about who we may yet become, but we can simply be who we are.
