What you are is God's gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.

The saying contrasts two dimensions of human life: what is received and what is offered. “What you are” points to existence, temperament, talents, and circumstances as fundamentally given—grace before achievement. “What you become” shifts to moral and spiritual agency: the gradual shaping of the self through choices, discipline, and openness to grace. Framed theologically, it implies a vocation ethic: one’s task is not to manufacture worth but to respond to a prior gift by becoming a more truthful, loving, and holy person. The “gift to God” language emphasizes gratitude and stewardship rather than self-creation, suggesting that personal growth is a form of worship and participation in divine purposes.