Hey everyone!
You probably noticed that I was a bit absent on the blog last week and that this post is being written on Tuesday, not Monday. This summer has been shaping up to be much busier and more stressful than I originally thought it would and it’s thrown a bit of a wrench into my blogging schedule and plans. Last week, when I realized that I totally spaced both my posts, I got very upset and disappointment with myself. I know that I won’t be able to post regularly when I’m on my trip, so I was set on making a point of having a schedule while I’m still here. I often struggle with getting too excited with my plans and overbooking myself; this was definitely one of these times. Between my trip to South Carolina, unpacking my college things, and figuring out what I need to get done for my trip, my blog was forgotten about.
I’ve finally come to terms that I can be a bit too hard on myself. People have told me this a lot, but it wasn’t until recently that I actually accepted it. It wasn’t until even more recently that I realized that this isn’t a good thing. While we are certainly called to challenge ourselves, push ourselves to grow, and hold ourselves accountable, God doesn’t want us to hold ourselves to an impossible standard. All our mistakes are covered by His grace, which means that we need to give ourselves grace.
As I’ve shared before, I really struggle with forgiveness. It’s not something that comes naturally to me both when it comes to others and myself. A big part of my journey with God has involved learning to forgive myself for my past and current sins and struggles. As long as we are here on this earth, we will always be imperfect (Romans 7:15-20). We will never fully be able to escape our sinful tendencies. While we are no longer enslaved to our fleshly desires, we will still continue to be tempted. This world belongs to the enemy and until we get to our true home, we will be in a constant battle.
But the good news is that this battle has been won already. Jesus claimed victory on the cross with His death and resurrection. His blood has covered us with His unending forgiveness and grace. This grace extends to all of our mistakes in every way. If the God of the universe has forgiven us, why shouldn’t we forgive ourselves?
Love this!!
Thank you! This was definitely one of my favorite blogs to write so far.
The metaphor of the catepiller turning into a butterfly that Deon Van Staten talked about comes to mind. We don’t look at the butterfly and say ‘there goes a catepiller.’ That hit me at such a deep level – your sins were truly WASHED AWAY – and there’s another flush of the toilet to wash any recent sins away. Which means God also gives us the power to give grace to ourselves and others. So glad you realized you needed to give grace to yourself instead of being hard on yourself!