you are deserving of grace

We can all be our own worst enemies, beating ourselves up at the slightest hint of failure. We all hold ourselves to a certain standard and when we don’t meet it, we often become our worst critics. You’d think it’d be the other way around: that we would extend grace to ourselves far easier than to others because we’re okay with who we are. Yet when others screw up, it’s harder to extend that same grace. I believe we are so used to people letting us down that we hold ourselves to an unattainable standard at times. It’s time to cut yourself some slack and realize how much you can prosper from your constant cycle of mistakes.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:1-2

If we believe that God wants us to feel ashamed or to punish ourselves when we sin, then we have the wrong idea of God. In Christ, we are completely forgiven, accepted, loved, and secure.

Here are a few verses to prove it:

“For the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.” -2 Chronicles 30:9

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us.” -1 John 4:18-19

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.’” -2 Corinthians 12:9

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” -Hebrews 4:16

“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

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We’ve all been in situations where at the time, it seemed impossible to come out of it with your head still on. In times like those, instead of waiting around for someone to tell you “it’s okay,” take a deep breath and extend yourself grace first. Doing so will remove whatever need you may have for validation. That’s right. Oftentimes our way to fill the gaps our mistakes leave is to seek validation through someone else.

Every now and then we can be hurtful, and we’ll eventually realize what we did was wrong. However, we don’t want to be accountable for what we’ve done, so we’ll hang our heads in remorse to make whoever we hurt feel more inclined to forgive us. This behavior is caused by fear of a potential consequence. Believe me, it’s incredibly normal to go into protection mode, and over the years, I have found that in order to allow yourself grace, it requires a certain amount of humility. Yes, it is easiest to beat yourself up about something, but don’t you want to be free from your burdens?

Use the verses above as a reminder that it is by His grace that we can always extend ourselves grace and go easy on yourselves!

love,