Grace
We are so lucky that God has blessed us with His grace. We are all sinners, we're ragged, we're flawed—all the things, right? However, God still exercises grace towards us. **For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God Ephesians 2:8 NIV**
No matter what we do or say, when we repent and ask for forgiveness, He gives us grace. I find it interesting that we, fleshly humans, have a hard time exercising grace towards others. We know that we are to be gracious and exercise grace, but sometimes people think that giving someone grace allows them to walk all over you, or means you have to continue interacting with someone who's hurting your feelings. That's not grace. That's not how grace works at all. You can exercise grace towards somebody and love them from a distance—that's called being mindful. Keep in mind, we were also called to guard our hearts. Proverbs 4:23.
But I think the hardest type of grace to exercise is grace towards yourself. I know for me, I can give grace towards others all day long. However, for some reason, when it comes to myself, I have a difficult time. That's still something I'm unpacking. It could be because I'm a high achiever, have high standards, and want to make sure I'm walking in excellence. However, I also wonder if it has to do with a touch of self-righteousness that I've realized I've been carrying with me. That's icky for me to say, but it's true, and if I'm gonna be real, at some point or area in our lives, we can all be a little self-righteous. But again, it goes back to us being fleshly humans—and thank God for His grace.
If you're someone who's been having a hard time letting something go—maybe you made a mistake or a bad decision—I'm here to tell you that holding onto that isn't helping you. He forgave you; you prayed, you repented, you asked for forgiveness, and you changed your behavior. Now you have to let it go. Stop harping on it. Let it be a lesson, learn from it so you don't make the same mistake again. Dragging yourself through the mud and punishing yourself doesn't serve you—in fact, it's hurting you more than you realize. Have some grace towards yourself. Cast 1 More Net!
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