I Am Who I Decide To Be

I am who I decide to be,
not what you imagine or think of me.
I have a sacred choice, you see
to live my life that others may be
drawn to the Truth that sets people free.
God give me courage that I might be
the genuine, authentic, honest me
who lives in the light of eternity.

Who are you on this fine day?
Are you simply what other people say?
Please don't let them take away
the you that loves to dance and play.
The cost is far too much to pay
to be what other people say.

My identity was never meant to be
a mere opinion, what you think of me,
and knowing that is really the key
for I am who I choose to be
in the light of the man from Galilee.

I lived, I live, and I shall live
in order that I might freely give
a word, a thought, a caring hand
to help my neighbor rise and stand
in confident hope and simple trust,
something that every person must
acknowledge and attempt to be
in order to claim an authentic me.

Yes, we are who we decide to be;
life is ours, but it's not free.
To live is neither pomp nor show,
but living in ways that others may know
the joy that life was destined to be,
the fulness of Christ in a person like me.

Thanks be to God for this glorious day,
for the chances that will happen along the way
to lend a hand, to let people see
the purpose of God lived out in me.