I make mistakes every day but I don’t make them on purpose. I am not where I need to be, but thank God I am not where I used to be. I am growing and seeing good changes all the time. It took me many years to be able to make that statement. I hope I can help you take a shortcut that I didn’t know existed.
I concentrated far too long on what was wrong with me and finally learned that focusing on my faults only increased them. I had to learn how to focus on Jesus and what He had done for me, and I had to truly believe that He loved me unconditionally and would continually forgive me when He drew me into a relationship with Himself. We would do much better in our own personal relationships if we would realize that from time to time we will have to forgive; we can plan to forgive ahead of time instead of expecting perfection and always being disappointed when we don’t get it. That would enable us not to pressure others just as God never pressures us! When we feel pressured, it is from Satan, not from God.
God leads, guides, urges, and prompts us, but He does not pressure us. If you have a healthy relationship with yourself, you can take a shortcut and avoid years of agony that are completely useless. I remember the day that God whispered to my heart and said, “Joyce, it is alright for you to have weaknesses.” You see, I tried very hard to be strong in every area and I was constantly frustrated because I was trying to do something that I could not do. God’s intention was certainly not to tell me that I could just do whatever I felt like doing and it didn’t matter. He was simply showing me that if I did my best and still manifested weakness (which I always did) that He knew all about it and understood it and I did not have to be afraid. Paul said he was strong in the Lord, but he also said that he was weak in Him (see 2 Corinthians 13:4). Whether we are weak or strong we are still in Christ and nothing changes that. He does not receive us and then reject us every time we manifest weakness. If you can understand this, it will help you not only make your journey in God faster, but you will be able to enjoy it more.
Don’t have unrealistic expectations of yourself or others. I have discovered over the years that what I expect from myself is what I usually expect out of people also. In other words if I receive God’s mercy then I will be able to give mercy to others, but if I am demanding and never satisfied with myself I will be the same way with others. How we treat ourselves is often how we treat others. I believe we need to learn to be good to ourselves and yet not be self-centered. We should respect and value ourselves. We should know what we are good at and what we are not good at and realize that God’s strength is perfected in our weaknesses (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). We stress out over our faults and yet everyone has them. If we had no faults we would not need Jesus.
You can enjoy peace with yourself but you will have to pursue it. Make a decision that since you are with you all the time, you should like yourself. God created you and He does not make junk, so start seeing your strengths and stop staring at your weaknesses.
I believe that a lot of internal stress works its way out of us and becomes external stress. In other words, if we are upset internally, we’re much more likely to display upset when our external circumstances are troublesome. If you don’t like yourself, you won’t like much of anything. If we can relax about ourselves, then we can usually relax more about life in general. We all have a relationship with ourselves. It’s important to ask yourself what kind of relationship you have with you!
Do you enjoy spending time alone? Can you handle being with yourself or do you always need people and noise to distract you from the way you feel inside? Are you able to forgive yourself (receive God’s forgiveness) when you make mistakes? Are you patient with yourself while God is changing you? How much time do you waste feeling guilty and condemned about things in the past? Do you compare yourself with other people and struggle trying to be like them? Do you feel the need to compete with others and try to be good at what they are good at? Do you let the worlds standard of looks and body image become your standard?
Or, are you able to freely be the precious individual that God created you to be? It is only when we ask these questions and answer them honestly that we can begin to understand what kind of relationship we have with ourselves.
Start meditating on this power thought: “I pursue peace with God, myself, and others.”
Think about It
Are you at peace with you?
