This is a FB note written by an old friend Lori Miller-Becker:
It is very common phrase spoken forth in ministry situations but one I can't find even a hint of scripture to back it up...Why in the world do people say while in a ministry situation with someone because of their horrid past, which includes deeds that they have done either personally to themselves or others...why do people say they have to forgive... See More themselves? and then they say they need to forgive God? That is so bazzar to me? I am one that has a horrid past, did horrid things to myself and others, but why in the world would I want to forgive myself and forgive God? What am I forgiving myself for? I do not forgive my"SELF" for the deeds of my past..I deeply repent for the wickedness of my flesh and the sins I committed and to have all that crud ripped out of me, not forgive it, am I making sense? and then to forgive God? That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard? I guess I do not understand the reasoning with any of those statements..I understand the soothing and fluffing because it makes a person feel good for maybe a flesh realm release of some sort? okay I will give it that, not that that is even right,but it makes no biblical sense to me...I do not want to forgive my"SELF" for anything...my"SELF" needs to be crucified at the cross and believeing what the word says about the new man..and instead of forgiving the "SELF" we might need to pray, "Father forgive my unbelief and help me to see the truth if we struggle with guilt, condemnation etc and then the statement that we need to forgive God? Huh?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My thoughts:
I think forgiving yourself IS important- to beat ourselves up over past doings and to continue to wear a mantle of guilt or distain for ourselves is NOT what God would have in the perfect sense. I believe He WANTS us to love ourselves as HE loves us. If we CHERISH ourselves as God cherishes us, we would be able to pursue His 'way' in a greater way -- it gives us momentum for the GREATER glory of Him.
The 'forgiving God" business... THAT may possibly be something a person has to do to get BEYOND hurt . Like, if something happened to us when we were innocent (ie, we didn't deserve a sin that was commited against us- some type of abuse) and from that, in our human way of coping, our life snowballs into a WORSE place. We may feel that GOD didn't protect us. That He COULD've intervened. Our 'blaming' Him is misplaced. We are placing something on HIM that should be placed on Satan. Something that Satan is directly related to. It is awful in my mind to even think that GOD needs to be "forgiven". He doesn't, because He IS perfect. A person needs to recognize that the blame for everything BAD is because of Satan and his lies. His only purpose now is to destroy anything GOOD that God has created.
But the WONDERFUL TRUTH is that God IS ABLE to do a work and make ALL things GOOD. He CAN make a bad thing good. He CAN repair a life. He specializes in FIXING things and making things 'new' again. He WILL have victory over Satan and the effects of death & sin upon HIS creation. It's a done deal. If people could only get a hold of that.... so much pain and hurt could be released. To love ourselves and forgive ourselves so we can then REFILL ourselves with God's love, is what can repair that which Satan sought to destroy.
To love ourselves as God loves us, to forgive ourselves as God has, is the BEST way for us to minister to ourselves AND THEN others. To despise ourselves and our sin makes us not as effective. To repent of our sin and from there, grow and see the beauty of the Father that radiates from within to without is miraculous. As awful as it is/was, OUR sin is what God USED to 1. draw us closer to Him and 2. establish us to NEVER want to go back to it.
AMAZING God! ♥ ...
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
