“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.
