Dealing with Life's Pressures
This last week, I was going through my bookshelves and ran across a bible study series by Charles Stanley that I never started. It is called "Dealing with Life's Pressures". So, I decided to use it this last week during my morning quiet times. I did a study on how to handle adversity and how to handle guilt. I just wanted to take a moment to share some thoughts about the lesson on guilt.
God's forgiveness is so amazing that when we ask for it it is freely given to us. He has promised in passages like 1 John 1:9 to wash us clean from sin because of the blood of Christ. The problem comes not from believing that God has forgiven me. The one who has the toughest problem is when I have to forgive myself. I really can stay in and focus on and beat myself up over faults of the past instead of letting them go.
The problem becomes, when I act as though because I have problems forgiving myself that God must also have problems forgiving me. Turns out, that God actually does what I ask him to do when I ask it. He actually and truly forgives and lets it go. I can accept that in my mind sometimes far easier than I can accept it in my heart. In my heart, I may feel as though because I have trouble letting it go that I am not worthy of his love or acceptance. I may feel as though it isn't possible that God could truly and completely forgive me. It is almost as if I asking God by my thoughts and actions not to forgive me because I don't deserve it.
And in a significant way, the Bible agrees with the idea that I don't deserve it. I don't see anywhere in the Bible that it refers to forgiveness as something that is earned. Instead, I read words like "grace" and "mercy". Dr.Stanley says it this way "Grace is the unmerited favor of God. When God deals with His children, He always deals with grace. Grace is something we don't deserve, but something He freely provides."
Instead of focusing on how I feel, which is undeserving and that surely God must still be mad at me, I need to focus on the truths found in his word. Some passages that Dr.Stanley mentioned that I found helpful was passages such as in Romans 5:1,9 where it talks about how we are justified by his blood. Also, Romans 8:16,17 where it says that we are now adopted into the kingdom of God. Also, Ephesians 1:5-6 where it says that we have been predestined to adoption as sons through Jesus. He also mentions that guilt is one of Satan's favorite tools of deception to rob christians of joy and peace.
God's forgiveness is so amazing that when we ask for it it is freely given to us. He has promised in passages like 1 John 1:9 to wash us clean from sin because of the blood of Christ. The problem comes not from believing that God has forgiven me. The one who has the toughest problem is when I have to forgive myself. I really can stay in and focus on and beat myself up over faults of the past instead of letting them go.
The problem becomes, when I act as though because I have problems forgiving myself that God must also have problems forgiving me. Turns out, that God actually does what I ask him to do when I ask it. He actually and truly forgives and lets it go. I can accept that in my mind sometimes far easier than I can accept it in my heart. In my heart, I may feel as though because I have trouble letting it go that I am not worthy of his love or acceptance. I may feel as though it isn't possible that God could truly and completely forgive me. It is almost as if I asking God by my thoughts and actions not to forgive me because I don't deserve it.
And in a significant way, the Bible agrees with the idea that I don't deserve it. I don't see anywhere in the Bible that it refers to forgiveness as something that is earned. Instead, I read words like "grace" and "mercy". Dr.Stanley says it this way "Grace is the unmerited favor of God. When God deals with His children, He always deals with grace. Grace is something we don't deserve, but something He freely provides."
Instead of focusing on how I feel, which is undeserving and that surely God must still be mad at me, I need to focus on the truths found in his word. Some passages that Dr.Stanley mentioned that I found helpful was passages such as in Romans 5:1,9 where it talks about how we are justified by his blood. Also, Romans 8:16,17 where it says that we are now adopted into the kingdom of God. Also, Ephesians 1:5-6 where it says that we have been predestined to adoption as sons through Jesus. He also mentions that guilt is one of Satan's favorite tools of deception to rob christians of joy and peace.
