This one is a hard one.
Not going to lie I am dreading writing this. I am asking God for the right words to say.
ready.
Having grace towards yourself I believe is forgiveness to its fullest.
learning to accept Gods forgiveness, then forgiving yourself which in turn will allow you to forgive others.
Forgiving yourself is hard.
its not apart of our world. as we are always trying to place blame or bury things down so deep that it takes years to come back up and finally tackle what it was we tried so hard to forget. Which usually is harder to deal with.
We have faults. do you hear that.
WE ALL HAVE FAULTS.
none of us are perfect.
We can find forgiveness right there when we put ourselves on a pedestal.
Allowing room for mistakes. For doing things the wrong way not only the first but fifth time.
That is the beauty of the grace that we have from God.
it shows us that its okay to have grace towards ourself.
To allow room for mistakes.
So that we don't beat ourselves down so much that we are not able to fully enjoy this one life that we have here on earth.
Its in those moments where our faith grows just a bit.
Not only in God but in ourself.
We begin to be comfortable with who we are,
our choices, our body, our decisions, our relationships, our food choices, our style, our discomforts.
Maybe we are to critical?
Its good to have high standards in some areas of our life but when we have ones that are out of our reach, that we will never be able to achieve, they just make us feel kind of like a loser, then it seems like our failed attempt is always thrown right back in our face. You hear the laughter.
why do we do that to ourself?
Let grace shine into those times. To be reminded that we don't have to be perfect because God doesn't call us to be perfect, He calls us to love the imperfect in us and everyone. Because He is our creator.
Thank goodness that He IS perfect.
“God, God, a God of mercy and grace, endlessly patient—so much love, so deeply true—loyal in love for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. "
Exodus 34:6 MSG
I am thankful for seasons of refinement. Knowing that God wants me to draw close to Him and discover something new.
A peace in His lessons He is teaching me that will in turn produce fruit one day.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me." John 15:1-4
If we remain in Him, truly in Him. Then we will have complete fulfillment. We will not only have grace towards ourself because we know that it is allowing us to be refined but we will be able to give ourselves more to those who we live our lives with.
Forgiving your past I think is something we all struggle with. Forgiving ourselves for making mistakes that seem to always tug on our hearts. Those times that we are always reminded of too often and feel so vivid as if they happened yesterday. I wish I could go back and make different decisions. But at the same time I am thankful that God has allowed me to learn & grow from them. They have shaped me into who I am today. Given me insight to give that little bit of wisdom if you might say to others who are in the same situation.
Yes its hard to forgive myself for those mistakes. But God is sovereign. He is SO full of forgiveness and redemption. He is using me. Using my past. For the future of others.
So my friends. If you have parts of your life your not happy with. Surrender them to God. Ask Him today to show you how to begin forgiving yourself. Ask Him to use them in the future. To produce fruit in others lives. To use the bad memories for those conversations that point to the good decisions of someone else's future.
Begin to love yourself. To find what it means to honestly love who you were created to be.
Seek forgiveness in areas of your life that are holding you back from living a life filled with pure joy.
I am very far from loving myself wholeheartedly. But I am getting there.
I want to see myself the way He sees me.
And I want to see you so in love with Jesus.
Serving Him.
Complete in Him.
Finding rest in His arms.
In Christ's Love
Emily Elizabeth
** Finished our Language school this last friday. It was bittersweet as we will miss our teachers but not our 3 hour commute each day!
** All of the pictures on this blog are from our graduation party this last friday!
** I will be gone the whole month of November... Blog after this one I will explain where and what I will be doing as I wont be able to be reached for 1 month.
Prayer Requests:
- A new energy as we transition from going to school 5 days a week to preparing to spend a month in the mountains.
- Continual growth in the relationships with those I am living in community with here
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