GRACE FOR MYSELF
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In a recent study-group session, the topic was God’s Grace. As I prayerfully prepared to teach, I had the strong urge to focus on....SELF-GRACE.
I know it was the Holy Spirit nudging me with the following question;
Do I see myself the way God sees me?
Immediately, I knew the answer was “NO!”
I intellectually know that God does not condemn me or get disgusted with my behavior or write me off as a failure when I mess up – BUT I ALWAYS DO.
So needing some spiritual-eyesight adjusting I plunged into the topic of giving GRACE to myself.
Teaching others is great, but seeing how God brings the teaching back around to teaching me personally, is absolutely the best. So, in my heart it was confirmed that the ladies who sat before me needed some practice in giving GRACE to themselves, and so did I.
The reality of how they practiced "self-grace" became evident when we ran through an activity about receiving God’s Grace and then giving that same grace to others.
A beautifully decorated gift circulated among the participants attending that day. Their instruction was to receive the gift placed in their hands and speak the following . . .
I receive This Gift of Grace, and I am moving on with the forgiveness that is mine in Jesus. Now, I extend this same GRACE to you.
As the last participant received her Gift of Grace . . . here was the surprising – or NOT so surprising discovery. Nearly every woman had difficulty with the phrase . . .
“I am moving on.”
What became evident was that while we may be quick to intellectually state that we receive the Grace of God when we . . .
- lose our temper with our children
- fail to read our Bible
- say something we shouldn’t say
- behave un-Christlike, etc.. .
We don’t truly move about in God’s Grace at all - when we don’t forgive ourselves and move on and really experience the forgiveness that is ours in Jesus.
Question; Have you ever been giddy and excited about a gift you’d chosen especially for someone, and when you gave it to them, their response was not at all what you thought it would be, but rather a real downer of a moment for you?
Friend, God has given you the beautiful Gift of Grace through the shedding of His Son’s Blood on the Cross! Don’t dismiss this GIFT by failing to forgive yourself when you are “less than” you want to be.
“Gift,” in the Greek language, means something given out of a free choice. It also means it was a sacrificial giving.
God has sacrificially given us the GIFT of living eternally with Him and the GIFT of relationship through the forgiveness of our sins through His bloodshed on The Cross.
It’s time to STOP seeing ourselves though our own lens of disapproval.
It’s time to START seeing ourselves through the Eyes of our God who sees JESUS when He looks at us.
:There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
When you self-condemn you are blaming yourself for something, and harboring feelings of guilt and disapproval. We must not accept this as normal reasoning.
So you messed up, right? We ALL do.
Confess. Repent. Move On!
“When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
You can choose to NOT cause the devil delight by stewing in feelings of guilt and self-deprecation.
You can choose to HONOR GOD by viewing yourself the way He views you.
You can choose VICTORY instead of groveling in self-pity because you aren’t pleased with yourself.
You can choose to RECEIVE, not DISMISS the forgiveness that Jesus procured for you on The Cross with His shed Blood!
TRUTH:
The more GRACE you extend to yourself, the more you will extend it to others.
If you tend to look at yourself disapprovingly, you’ll disapprove of others.
If you are quick to see your failures, you’ll more quickly see failures in others.
If you continually focus on your personal imperfections, you’ll be more apt to focus on the imperfections of others.
To extend GRACE TO MYSELF takes FAITH. Why? Because Faith sees the Blood of Christ covering every sinful, messed-up part of me.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God! (Ephesians 2:8 NIV)
“Dear Father, right now I thank YOU for the beautiful Gift of Grace. I receive it and I move forward in the victory that is mine, as Your child. In the Name of Jesus I delight in You as I offer this prayer.” Amen.
For more info about booking and Cindi Wood Ministries visit: FrazzledFemale.com
