A little girl was crying. When her grandfather asked why she was crying, she said she’d been talking to herself… and, well, “Things were said.”
Are you so self-critical that you live in your own self-condemnation?
Or do you confess your sin, and accept the forgiveness and cleansing of God?
Do you focus on your own terrible criticisms of your character and future?
Or do you focus on the One who loves you so much He saved you from your sin?
Reprimanding or Condemning?
There is a crucial difference between reprimanding yourself for a thought, word, or deed and condemning yourself.
You were rude to someone; you stole something; you imagined getting even; you hated your co-worker; you…
Those are actions, thoughts, or words for which you should reprimand yourself. Your healthy conscious is speaking to you. Pay attention. Confess your sins, believe God that He forgives you and cleanses you from all sin. (1 John 1:9)
But what if you then say, “I was rude, I’m just an awful, no-good so-and-so. I’ll never get it right. God can’t possibly love me.”
Those are self-condemnations and are lies from the pit of hell.
There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
Don’t listen to Satan’s lies about your worth.
Options
You did something wrong…for the 49th time, maybe. “I make that mistake again; I sinned again.”
You have two options:
Option B: “I’ll never get it. I’ll never be able to stop this. I am just a no-good, terrible, awful, human being. God must be so mad at me. God must hate me. I might as well give up.”
Option A: “Lord, forgive me. I fell into this again, and I do not want to live like this. Thank You for your forgiveness and Your promise to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Please help me learn to do this Your way. Thank You for loving me, for saving me, for working in me so I follow You more closely and more consistently.”
Speak truth to yourself in love (Ephesians 4:15)
You are NOT a condemned loser. You ARE the beloved child of God. (Be sure! See Becoming a Child of God.)
Timothy Keller: “So we can say that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope — at the very same time.”
