“You Are More”
By Tracy Smith
“Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the
new is here!”
2
Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
I
love the lyrics to the song, “You are More” by Tenth Avenue North. The chorus
says this:
“You
are more than the choices that you've made,
You
are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You
are more than the problems you create,
You’ve
been remade.” [1]
How
many of us define ourselves by our mistakes or struggles in the past? And by
past, we could be talking about five minutes ago! I know I do, but even beyond
that, I define myself by the mistakes, struggles and choices I make over and
over again. We all have those things we truly repent of or work on but struggle
with repeating. We all have those things that in our own strength, we
will not have victory over.
I
found the video of this song since I enjoy seeing how artists put vision to
their music. The video had the band singing before a large chalkboard. On this
chalkboard, people were writing those past (and present!) mistakes and
struggles. They wrote down things that were a struggle for them. The things
written on the board were as varied and diverse as the people writing them. As
the camera panned away for a wide view of the board, my jaw dropped. Right
above and to the left of the lead singer were the words “OCD controls me.” At that moment, I who struggle with OCD
myself realized two things: (1) There were struggles on that board that every
watcher could relate to, and (2) We are not alone in our struggles. No matter
what we are struggling with, someone else in this world is, too - - we are not
alone. That was comforting to me as I watched.
As
the song wound down, again, my jaw dropped. As we watch, water starts to
trickle down the chalkboard, slowly erasing all of the things written on the
board. What a picture! While not on
the video, in my mind, I saw a large cross replace all the written words that
had been there before.
We
are so much more than our mistakes, our bad choices and our struggles; we are a
new creation in Christ!
GOING DEEPER:
1. Watch the video
for “You Are More.” Do you see something on the board that you can relate to?
If so, does this help you not feel so alone?
http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=9E0F1MNU
2. Will you pray
that the Lord will help you realize you are so much more than your mistakes and
struggles?
FURTHER READING:
Along
with being a wife and mother to two boys, Tracy is an administrative assistant
at Oakwood, serves on the Women’s Ministry Special Events Team and leads a
great group of Junior High girls.
