2 epic lessons about life from spanish class

Guest post by Eliana Duran

When you look in the mirror, do you find yourself applying mental labels? Have you ever fallen into thinking about it again and again, in an endless loop? 

I have. Some days I’ve been prideful. “I’m beautiful,” I’d tell myself. “Wow, I am smart.”

Other days, I’ve drowned in self-pity. “I’m ugly.” “I’m so dumb.” 

Can you relate? 

It is so easy to be overwhelmed by these “I am” statements. It really shouldn’t mean anything whether we look good or not, or whether our intelligence is above average or below. Jesus died for us, and that’s all that matters, right? We know we shouldn’t be concerned by these things. 

But . . . our hearts just keep chanting, “I am this, I am that.” And if we are these things, our hearts say, they do matter. We should be prideful about our strengths and pity ourselves for our weaknesses, our hearts convince us. 

I know firsthand that it’s hard to fight what our hearts say, but I’ve discovered a weapon to fight these “I am” statements. I found this weapon and learned the following lessons in an unlikely place: Spanish class. 

Tengo: “I have” 

In Spanish, the verb for “to have” is tener, and specifically tengo for “I have.” What you may or may not know is that with certain adjectives, instead of saying “I am jealous” or “I am lucky,” the Spanish translation would be “I have jealousy” (tengo celos) or “I have luck” (tengo suerte). 

Tengo makes it so much clearer that these things don’t define us.

As Christians, the only thing that really defines us is our faith. We are children of God. 

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) 

These things that our hearts say we are—they are no more than attributes. 

Take a Different Look at Yourself 

We can be tempted to have pride because we think we are beautiful or are intelligent, but if we change our wording to “I have some beauty” or “I have some intelligence,” then lies about our identity will fail. And we can be tempted to self-pity because we think we are ugly or are dumb, but what if we said “I have some ugliness” or “I have some unintelligence” instead? 

Beloved, the truth is, if you lost your beauty with age or your intelligence in an accident, it wouldn’t change who you are in Christ.

These things are just attributes. They might be how the world sees us, but it isn’t how God sees us. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks, but it does matter what God thinks. 

The next time you’re in front of the mirror, look at yourself the way God sees you. Take any thoughts that come, capture them, and make them obedient to Him. 

Yes, you have sinned, but if you are a born-again believer, Jesus has wiped your slate. When God looks at you, He doesn’t see your faults—or even your earthly achievements. When God looks at you, He sees the righteousness of Jesus. 

That’s what actually matters, beloved. You are a child of God.

ABOUT the author

Eliana Duran is a homeschooled high school sophomore with a love for words. Besides when she is writing, you can often catch her doodling or reading. She loves Jesus first of all, and also the color purple, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and her ten younger siblings (most of the time). She regularly posts on her blog, Eliana The Writer.