The Self You’ve Been Wrestling With

By Daphne Delay, guest columnist

When I wrote my first book about righteousness in 2003, my grandmother was 83 years old. Even at that age, I greatly admired her. She was hospitable, beautiful, and in every way reminded me of the Proverbs 31 woman.

As we stood in her kitchen in Mt. Vernon, Texas, I was surprised at what she told me about my book. She said, “I enjoyed it very much Daphne. I only wish I had learned those things about myself when I was your age. I’ve never really liked who I am.”

At 83 years old, my grandmother still wrestled with self. David said in the Psalms, “As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness” (Psalm 17:15). This is the goal: to awake (or become aware of) our identity in Christ. There’s certainly an element to this that won’t be fully realized until we reach Heaven, but I believe it’s God’s will for us to abide in a knowledge of this now --in this life. But what I’ve learned is: No matter your age or gender--if you wrestle with self, you haven’t seen yourself in Christ yet.

My prayer for you today is that you AWAKE (become aware of) who you are in Christ. Let His Word speak to you in your mirror. You don’t have to wait for someone else to tell you how wonderful you are in Him. In His lovingkindness, God whispers it through His Word.

He sees you in Him.

“As for me, I will continue beholding your face in righteousness [rightness, justice, and right standing with You); I shall be fully satisfied, when I wake [to find myself] beholding Your form [and having sweet communion with You]” (Psalm 17:15 AMP).

God has wired all of us to see His qualities within us. And for this reason, the devil has used guilt, condemnation, and self-hate to mask who we’ve been made in the likeness of --Christ.

I invite you to look up this video of some women that reminded me of this truth [https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=kuoBEJ9DkJM]. Notice how they cringe at their reflection in the mirror. I believe this is very typical of most people. But notice also that as soon as they heard words of affirmation, they melted. Why? Because…

The self you’ve been wrestling with isn’t the self God sees.