"Don't be anxious to condemn yourself every time you fall. Instead, patiently, gently, pick yourself up and start all over again. Why are you surprised when the weak turn out to be weak, and the frail, frail? When you turn out to be sinful? When you fall, be gentle with your frail, weak heart. Lift your heart gently; accept your failure without wallowing in your weakness. Admit your guilt in God's sight. Then with good heart, with courage and confidence in His mercy, start over again." St. Francis de Sales
This statement
above has succinctly elucidated this post. I can as well end here and trust the
Holy Spirit to give you more insight to it, but No!
I have few tips to share.
These tips have helped me overcome the guilt from my past shortcomings, shaped
my everyday life and further strengthened my relationship and trust in God over
the years.
If you’ve been
following my posts, you would have noticed that my past and present life
clearly depicts Psalms 40:20 and
that is why I am so eager to share also with you because I am not ashamed of the gospel, it is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes.... For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that
comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will
live by faith.” (Romans 1:15-17)
SO PERMIT ME TO SHARE
..................................................................................................
Whether you’re
already a “believer” or “struggling Christian”, we all have that moment when we
miss it either by our actions or inactions. For the believer especially, this
moment makes you feel disappointed in yourself and often times (for some
people) it breaks the communication line between you and your Maker.
It’s like
a child who has broken a dish or burnt the only pot of soup left. Guilt sets
in, fear follows and that child does everything to avoid mum for the whole of that
day.
However, one thing this child forgets is the fact that one can’t hide
forever because, mum will find out, she will ask questions and punish someone
if necessary. But, this won’t stop mum from preparing another pot of soup for
the whole house or get a new dish for serving meals.
Now, picture
this! If mum can forgive us, how much more a God who gave us His only son even
when we didn’t deserve it?
I was sharing with some friends recently and it was a
discussion on John 3:16. I explained to them that, when we read that scripture
during Sunday school (as a little girl, even as an adult for some), we didn’t
realize it was “for God so loved the
world…” As a statement of fact, our teachers didn’t even read as “loved”. What we used to say was
“for God so love the world…”
Please note that
the “love” is in past tense “loved”. That is; we’ve been
loved even before we accepted the “Love”.
If we’ve been loved, then it’s safe to say that even if we walk away from,
wrong, or even forget that Love, it doesn’t change a thing. The Love remains.
The Love is True. The Love is Sure. The Love is everlasting!
Now, if all
these are true about God’s love towards us, why do we leave in guilt/ self pity
when we “miss it” or over past mistakes? Why do we suddenly forget the greatness
and genuineness of God’s love towards us and begin to feel “valueless” and self-pity?
I remember
“those days”, I would stay away from church, and I didn’t feel comfortable to
pray. I just couldn’t connect. All that kept coming to mind were the things I
had done wrong. It was like a “favourite song” on replay and I would listen
with my “Beat by Dre” Headphones, get so lost in the noise transiting from my
ears to my head till I breakdown with Depression, guilt, self-pity or anger.
It was a
terrible experience.
For the few
times I managed to go to church, during worship, once my hands were lifted high
and my eyes closed, the pictures began to display. The slides were so vivid as
though I were in the act right there in church and once again I would
disconnect for the rest of the service.
My breakthrough
came when I realized that I was living in denial. I didn’t want to accept my
foolishness (Yes! Ignorance causes one to be foolish). I felt too ashamed; to
accept that I was that actress in the movie I had refused to watch.
If you’re still
reading, I need you to realize that sin only thrives in darkness and secrecy.
Once it’s exposed, light sets in and liberty comes too.
I got this
revelation days after one of my friends told me “Chichi our sins past, present
and future are forgiven” and I realized that although born again and tongue
speaking, I had allowed the devil to keep me in bondage because of my ignorance
of how much God loved (past) and loves (present) me and the fact that He keeps
no record of my shortcomings. So why was I always throwing a pity party instead
of a victory party?
Other revelations
that set me free are found in the following scriptures, Psalm 32:2, Hebrews
8:12, and Romans 4:8.
The key thing I got from these scriptures is the truth
that God does not take record of our sins once we accept Jesus as our Lord and
Saviour; His Death, shed blood and resurrection covers us.
While this
statement above is valid, it is not a free ticket to take a long trip to “Sin City”.
Are you presently throwing any pity-party for yourself? Please ask yourself this, "Why Am I Throwing a Pity-party instead of a victory party?"
Did you get any answer? If you did not, my next article will shed more light on how you can get over the guilt from past mistakes.
I hope you'll read it😃😃😃
AFORCETORECKONWITH💖💖💖
P.S
Thanks for reading after my plenty weeks of silence.
Please don't forget to like, comment and share with your friends.
Someone out there needs to read this truth to gain freedom from the power of sin and the accuser(Satan).
