Forgiving yourself
What happens when you really screw up or do something awful, we鈥檒l even say truly sinful?
One of the tendencies of our human nature is that once we give in to a temptation that is detrimental to ourselves or others that sometimes we just let ourselves go further, a purposeful or mindless spiraling out of control.
Witness drug addictions: A recovering addict may successfully stay sober minded for quite some time and then for whatever reasons they give in to 鈥渏ust a little,鈥� then succumb to more, until they are full-blown relapsed.
Some choices we make are stumblings. But be reminded, just because you stumble, doesn鈥檛 mean you have to throw yourself down the steps! Stop the fall!
Sometimes, we need to go cold turkey and stay that way because of a weakness that is inherent to us as individuals. My weakness may not be yours and yours not mine, etc. So the thing that trips us up is where extra precautions need to be in place.
What happens is that we 鈥済ive in鈥� to the thing that is injurious to our lives and against our relationship with God, with that comes guilt, shame and unfortunately hopelessness if it蘑菇视频 a pattern.
I try and fail, I try and fail, and I try harder and fail, what蘑菇视频 the use?
Then, emotional and spiritual fragility makes inroads into our thought process and the rational of giving up because of repeated failures starts to take root.
What is really happening is that a person goes past frustration, crosses past disappointment, becomes disillusioned because of the success/failure rate comparison, and ends up becoming secretly bitter with themselves and throws themselves down the steps into a form of punishment or soul flagellation towards a life that they perceive as not worth fighting for anymore.
The momentum is like a heavy laden truck picking up speed going downhill. The faster it goes downhill, the harder it becomes to stop the momentum. This is the way it is with us as the sin we take on gathers more guilt and burden into our lives, the harder and harder it becomes to stop.
With all that, the end result is to quit, or as the Bible would say, 鈥済ive themselves over to.鈥� In this type of scenario, quitting and giving up is unforgiveness towards yourself for not being what you haven鈥檛 become yet.
One of the missing ingredients in our Christian walk of faith is the ability to forgive ourselves. In a previous article, I talked about the God of another chance. That God continues to forgive continuously, and does not want to give up on you. If God thinks it蘑菇视频 okay for him to have that kind of character and take that stance, then why wouldn鈥檛 it be okay for us?
Before I get hate mail, let me say this: Forgiving yourself is allowing yourself to not quit, not give up, to keep on struggling, to get another chance to succeed and overcome. Forgiving yourself is not a license to sin, to get away with something, or to not feel guilty. It does mean, that no matter how far down I go, how many times I fail, that since there is a God who loves me and wants me to keep on keeping on, I will also.
I John 1:9 NIV says that 鈥淚f we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.鈥� So when you fail or fall, along with proper guilt and conscience, then move into confession before God about the situation, and allow you to continue on with improvement and overcoming in mind.
You may have to apologize to others, ask their forgiveness, make restitution, carry some shame, feel the guilt of being at fault, but please don鈥檛 quit and throw in the towel. That蘑菇视频 what the Devil wants you to do, but God want you to give yourself another chance by not just him forgiving you, but forgiving yourself as well.
Don鈥檛 give up, no matter how many times you don鈥檛 succeed.