What we are in the dark ...

"We are only what we are in the dark; all the rest is reputation." wrote Oswald Chambers. "What God looks at is what we are in the dark ..."

The adjectives I'd use to describe myself "in the dark" are not positive ones:

Scared. Insecure. Emotional. Weak.

I don't like myself in the dark. 

But John said of Christ-followers, "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

Walking with Christ is about walking in the light. 

In the light, I am:

Confident. Smart. Grounded. Influential. Mature. Respected.

I like walking in the light.

But here's the beauty of the gospel: God found me in the dark. 

"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us," Paul wrote in Romans 5:8.

The beauty of the gospel in present tense is this:

God sees me in the dark.
God knows me in the dark.
God transforms me into His image in the dark.

So that I can be in the light all that He has created me to be. 

Then, my life isn't just reputation. It's real, authentic gospel living.

Aren't you glad God finds us in the dark?