I am who I am St. Paul once told his listeners "I am who I am by the grace of God." Self-acceptance before God requires a mature surrender of who we are to God. God knows who we are and he creates us to love him. Grace will challenge us to let go of our false and pretentious self and accept the abiding presence of God in our hearts. Grace has no room for a foolish lifestyle. "Those who follow me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life." Being afraid to walk in the light because of the fear that we will not be accepted or for reasons the world imposes upon us can only lead us further from the truth. God had accepted us "before the world began," and he desired us to be "holy and blameless in his sight." He gave to us the "spirit of truth" to guide us to "all truth." The truth of who we are before God, nothing more nor nothing less. That is sufficient. St. Teresa of Avila wrote down on a bookmark "God alone suffices." I believe what she meant was that the faith leads us to the buried treasures of our heart, the "pearl of great price," the "kingdom of God within you." Once we've grasped that truth we can say with St. Paul "I am what I am by the grace of God." St. Therese of Lisieux also spoke these words of great insight: "everything is a grace." A grace that we are called his creatures, his adopted children, the object of his fraternal and eternal love. "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God," says St. Paul. (Rom. 8:16) What a great consolation to know that we have been loved, we are loved, and that love will never end. "As the Father loves me so I also love you." (Jn. 15:9) Notice the present tense "as the Father loves me." In the depths of our heart, in the sacred space known only to God and your deepest self is living the Holy Trinity in you heart and they are living and loving you, embracing you with the eternal love that only God can give.