Do you know who you are?

This is a question I have been struggling with. Do I really know who I am? I cannot be who the world wants me to be. I cannot be who my parents want me to be,nor my husband,my friends, nor my family itself. I have to be who God created me to be. In order for me to become that person I must first let go of myself. I must die to myself and follow Christ and Him alone. I cannot live life wondering who likes me or who doesnt. The word of God is offensive to the world. No one wants to hear that someone else has control over their lives, no one wants to hear what they are doing wrong, or need to change. No one wants to hear they need a new set of friends, or they need to give all they have away. In order to really know myself I first have to know who God is, His love for me, and His plan for me. I am not the same person I was at three, nor at eighteen. I am now 42, and still stumble over who I am. I think it takes us a long time to really let go of ourselves and grasp that God has a higher and a better plan for us. I think it takes time to grasp that Christ died a horrible death because He loved a person like me. Being a christian is not easy. Christ never said it would be. When we choose to follow Him, we must die to ourselves, our being, and allow Him to live in us. The more we know God the more we know ourselves. The closer we are to Him, the closer we are to being who He wants us to be. When we choose to follow Christ we are going to go through changes, we are going to go through trials, our lives can be turned upside down in order for us to begin to grow closer to Him and know and learn that we can do nothing without Him in our hearts and our lives. What I write in my blog I cannot worry if someone is going to be offended, if someone isnt going to understand, or if they will just leave altogether, for they didnt want to hear the word of God, or think upon it. I have to write what is upon my heart. What God lays upon my heart to write. I am not yet the person that He wants me to be. But I am getting closer with each breath I take toward Him. When we sit back and look at our pasts, let them go, take a look at now, and let it go, and stay focused on the future we have with Christ, we begin to change our actions, our deeds, and the words that come out of our mouths. With each trial, with each sickness, with all that is happened in my life, I am now beginning to see the picture that God is painting before me. We all grow at different levels, and at different times in our lives. Some are still on milk as new christians, some are moving on to meat, and learning with each mistake and each step toward Christ. I cannot expect another to understand all I can understand, nor can another expect me to understand all they have learned. God molds us and shapes us with His hands in His time. With each step of the molding process, we become new creatures in Christ. A few days ago I shared my mom bought me another violet,well, this one I do not yet know what color it is, for it hasn't bloomed yet. Just as a new christian coming to know Christ doesn't know the full impact of what Christ has instore for him. The more He grows and stays closer to Christ He will begin to bloom and you will see the colors of Christ through him. We all have different personalities for a purpose. We all reach other people, but even before we reach others we first must reach out to Christ and know all He has for us. So who are you? Is it a question you have been pondering? Christ knows who you are, just as He knows who I am. May we grow closer to Him to find out our real colors, our real self, and watch each other bloom into the beauty He has designed in us...