• Menu

31 Days :: Day 27 – You’re The Proof

This Morning:

  • Today is about guilt, regrets, and self-blame… stuff we are holding onto from our pasts. Journal about what you see yourself holding onto from your past.
  • Ask God to begin healing you today… to show you how to let it go.
Devotion: You’re The Proof

For years, I have beaten myself up for mistakes. Being a perfectionist, that kind of comes naturally, but it’s mostly been about not being able to forgive myself. I’ve also blamed others who have influenced me along the way. So basically I have been playing the blame game for years and years. A seemingly endless cycle in my mind that has done nothing but please Satan.

I tried to find the answers in books. I tried to find answers in my “happy place.” I tried to find answers in friendships. I tried to find the answers in more activities. More work. More busyness. But nothing worked.

Maybe you are like me and you have struggled with forgiving yourself for something (or a few things). It doesn’t matter how “big” or how “small” your crime may be. It’s all relative anyway. In our minds, we can beat ourselves up over the silliest things somehow. But maybe you have a big regret in your past. One that you hold in your mind and that Satan just loves to throw back at you when you are trying to live for God.

Maybe the memories and regrets grip you and paralyze you at times. Maybe you become depressed or feel unable to function. Maybe sometimes you believe the enemy when he tells you that you are STILL that person. Wonder what thoughts the adulterous woman from John 8 tossed around in her mind…

…but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” – John 8:1-11

I believe there was more in what Jesus was saying. His obvious words were that he forgave her and that anyone with sin could not condemn her. But I believe He was also saying, “my daughter… forgive yourself and let it go.”

If God wants us to live in freedom in HIS forgiveness, then isn’t part of that freedom in the forgiving of ourselves?

After all, we are the proof. The proof of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. The proof of what He can do in a life. When we really accept that our mistakes are the proof… and not just mistakes that we need to regret for the rest of our lives, the healing has truly begun.

For our thought lives to be in line with what God wants them to be, we must let go of past regrets. Shame and regrets weigh us down and keep us from becoming all that God wants us to be for His kingdom. Have you repented? Have you turned from your mistakes? If so, it’s time to let go. Start showing the world that YOU ARE THE PROOF!

And now the healing has begun…

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. – Romans 8:1

To Make You Think:

  1. Have you repented and turned from all of the sin that so easily entangles?
  2. Are you still living with regrets in your mind? What are they specifically?
  3. Are you ready to let go and forgive yourself?

The Rest of the Day:

  • Journal about your own sin/testimony/regret journey. Write down what you need to let go of and write out a commitment to do so.
  • Ask God to forgive you for not trusting Him completely with your past. Ask Him to clean your mind of regret, allowing Him to teach you more about today.
See you tomorrow!

Continuing on…  31 Days :: Day 28 – A Mind Set Free

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

3 comments