One of the things that I am learning in my walk with the Lord is that often times, we can be our own worst critic… Do you ever feel that way about yourself as well? Ex-prodigals, you know what I’m talking about… If you repent of something, the Bible tells us in Psalm 103:12:
“God throws our sins as far as the east is to the west.”
But often, while God forgives us, we sometimes struggle with forgiving ourselves… The Bible tells us in Micah 7:19
“He throws our sins in the sea of forgetfulness.”
When we repent and ask for forgiveness, the blood of Jesus wipes our slate clean. Jesus took OUR sins upon Himself, He died for forgiveness of our sins. When God sees us, He sees us covered with His Son’s precious blood. The problem more often than not, is that we “don’t forget” and we “don’t forgive ourselves” for things that we have repented for, and ol’ slewfoot continuously whispers reminders and accusations into our ears because he loves to torment us. he takes GREAT joy when he sees that his accusations work and we (instead of holding fast to the fact that we HAVE been forgiven) are filled with remorse, regret and guilt that hinder us moving forward in Christ.
Beloved reader, IF you have asked God to forgive you, YOU ARE FORGIVEN INDEED! Walk in that forgiveness! Learn to let go what you have released to God!
The Bible tells us in Mark 12:31:
“Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
But here is the problem, many of us don’t know HOW to love ourselves… I believe Holy Spirit wants to teach us HOW to love ourselves. Part of learning how to love our selves, is learning how to forgive ourselves. You can love others MORE than you show love to yourself. Maybe this is an area that needs submitting to Holy Spirit to allow His healing touch, it is in learning to love ourselves that we can BETTER love others.
Think about it, the devil HATES God. he HATES all that the Father loves – that includes YOU. What better tactic than to whisper accusations that fall on the vulnerable soil of you that makes YOU hate yourself? Who gets the glory for that? God lovingly created you in His image. God desires to BLESS you and NOT to harm you, He has plans to give you hope and a future, but if you can’t see beyond your faults or weaknesses then you become stuck in a circle of remorse, unforgiveness, self-bashing, self-hatred – which stops you from going further in the fullness of what God has for you! Does this sound like something you can relate to? Proverbs 19:8 tells us:
“To acquire wisdom is to love oneself.”
To love others in the manner that God has asked us, we need to learn to love ourselves, not in a conceited or narcissistic manner, but in a humble manner, accepting the love that Jesus gave us by giving up His life FOR us. Being gracious to ourselves, bringing those things that we feel need changing about ourselves before the Father to allow Holy Spirit to do His work in us which will enable Him to do His work THROUGH us. In order to love others better, we have to accept for ourselves the love that the Father has for us, ourselves and walk in it.
“Father God, I thank You for loving me, I thank You for leaving the glories of Heaven to meet me right here, where I am at through Jesus’ birth through the virgin Mary, Jesus lived a sin-less life and then underwent death on the cross for forgiveness of my sins and then rose from the grave defeating sin and death and enabling me to have a RIGHT relationship with God the Father. Thank You Father, it doesn’t get ANY more personal than that! You loved me enough to endure the cross! Forgive me Father, for not loving myself enough to accept the forgiveness that was purchased at such a high price for me! Help me to forgive myself as YOU forgive me when I repent of my sins. Help me to leave those sins at your alter and to walk in self-forgiveness. Help me to love myself as you ask me to love others. There have been times when I have honored others MORE than I have honored myself! Lord, help me to love myself as YOU love me so that I can pour out and walk in MORE love for others, since I have allowed myself to experience the love I in turn are meant to walk in for them. Father, I pray that you would silent the accusations of the enemy and help me to rebuke the accuser when he tries to put seeds of doubt for the forgiveness You provide me. I AM Your child and I choose to walk in love, walk in forgiveness, walk in the grace that You have provided for me and in turn help others to learn to do the same. I love You Father, I love You Jesus, I love You Holy Spirit! YOU are my Savior! YOU are Lord OVER my life! I belong to You! Thank You Father for hearing my prayer. Thank You Holy Spirit for helping me to walk in that love. In Jesus’ name I pray! AMEN!
After praying that prayer, your heart should be filled with an overflowing amount of love for ALL the Father has done for you. Receive that love for yourself and walk in it! Show others how to do the same, and silent the accusations of the evil one by the precious blood of our Savior, who loves you and will NEVER leave for forsake you! Walk in love- not only for others, but FOR YOURSELF!
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