I am Who I am | Nia Wylie

My mind is a mental battleground where I fight with my flesh regularly.  My flesh wants what and who it wants, and sometimes it wins.  Sometimes I allow the Spirit to exercise His power to destroy the desires of the day.  Sometimes I don’t.  Like Paul said in his letter to the Roman church,

“I want to do what is good, but I don’t.  I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.  But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it” (Romans 7:19-20 NLT).

What a hot mess!  And that’s how I feel sometimes - like a complete mess up!  Or in the words of Paul, “Oh, what a miserable person I am!” (Romans 7:24).  There’s some comfort in knowing it is not me but the sin at work in my life that is evil.  I am not evil; sin is.  

My struggle may not be your struggle, but please believe, I did not receive a special heavenly pass that prevented me from receiving a thorn in the flesh to keep me grounded and in need of my forgiving and merciful God!  We tend to stray away from discussing sex (of all types), pornography, masturbation, and other variations of sexual vices in the church. That doesn’t make those issues non-existent.  It just aids children and adults with perpetuating the generational cycles of their parents and grandparents (e.g. fornication and adultery; children before marriage; addiction, perversion, and abuse).

I recognize sexual feelings are natural.  God designed us to reproduce, which requires us to feel some type of way every now and then.  However, I cannot allow my natural feelings to overpower the Spirit’s desire to shut those feelings down while I’m outside the covenant of marriage.  Once I did share my burden with REAL, HONEST, and SPIRITUAL people. I opened myself up to healing and received some of the realest words I’ve ever received from people strong enough to admit they also struggle.  I thank God for the community of believers God is using to be a blessing to me!

Sometimes I wonder how I can possibly be pleasing to God as I am?  As Paul asks, “Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?  Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:24-25).

Thank God there is an answer!  When I was baptized into Christ, sin lost complete dominance over my life.  I now have the option to live for Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.  The same Spirit that resurrected Christ from the grave.  I know I need something to help me not do what I want to do (help Jesus!).  If I have the Spirit, how can I lose any battle? 

When I choose to sin, I choose to suppress the Spirit’s influence and, thereby, choose to lose the battle.  Yes, my decisions impact the outcome of my daily battles.  I am not a robot who acts solely based on an action code input into my mind by the Creator.  Rather, I make decisions based upon the content I put into my mind.  It’s my responsibility to consume godly things so I can feed the Spirit versus the flesh.  I must also choose to strengthen my intimate relationship with God by imploring God to turn my heart and desires toward Him and not “him”.  I must value my relationship with God more than I respect any carnal connection.

I am who I am.  Flaws and all.  We all have our bad days because we are nothing but humans.  I don’t always season my words the best, but I am not a tasteless, tactless person.  I fall short of God’s expectations for me by lusting, but I am not the Proverbs 5 woman.  Some days I act out of character, but that doesn’t mean I have no true identity.  No, no, no.  This is who I am: 

I am Nia Wylie.

Fashioned by God.

Daughter of Stanley and Anita. 

Member of the Wylie and Blake families.

Member of God Jehovah’s royal family.

A priest assigned to serve and worship God in spirit and truth and with my talents.

I am a child of God who loves all. 

Nia means purpose. I am purpose driven.

I am a creative.

I am a singer, writer, speaker, artist, and encourager.

I am strong, valuable, worthy, and clear. 

Now, who are you?

Follow the template below to craft your “Who I Am” affirmation statement. 

• Name. “I am ____”.
• Fashioned by God
• Daughter/Son of _______.
• Member of the ____ and ____ families.
• Member of God Jehovah’s royal family.
• A priest assigned to serve and worship God in spirit and truth and with my talents. 👑
• I am a child of God who loves all.
• What does your name mean?
• Above all else, what is it that you are?
• What brings you the most joy? What would you do for free just to be a blessing to someone else?
• Lastly, What’s your hype statement?