Monday and a soapbox about 'self forgiveness'....

It's Monday, and that means Bible Study tonight! I am currently leading a group of 31 women through Beth Moore's "When Godly People Do Ungodly Things". It's a great study that teaches us how to avoid the schemes of the enemy in our lives (and much more, hard to summarize this study as it covers so much ground!). One thing in the lesson really stood out to me, and I plan on 'tweaking it' (my own technical term) to the group. She refers to the need to ask God to help us to 'forgive ourselves'. I know that she doesn't mean that how it sounds, and one of these days I need to write to Beth and express my opinion on this topic because I have heard her teach this concept before.

It simply is not biblical to try to 'forgive ourselves'. Nowhere in scripture does it say 'forgive yourself'. We are to accept God's forgiveness, and forgive others, but not forgive ourselves. To do so is to take the place of God on the throne, and try to do what He has already done for us as true believers! I don't think she means that, though....I truly believe she just chose poor language to say what she meant. For example, better language might be "I still have regrets", or "I still feel guilty", or "I keep beating myself up over that thing", even though you have God's forgiveness. If these are the case, then your problem is not that you need to forgive yourself......the problem is that you need to take the focus OFF OF SELF, and on to the cross, and repent of the sin of unbelief! It is unbelief because you are not believing that Christ's death on the cross WAS sufficient, and that you are forgiven completely.

Well, I could go on and on about this topic, because it is kinda a pet peeve of mine (no offense to Beth - I totally love her and her studies and other teachings have been life changing for me - I couldn't recommend them more strongly!). Just ask the ladies I minister to. ;) This 'self forgiveness' thing comes up fairly often and they've heard me say all this a zillion times by now. WHY?? Because it is THAT important! Our very faith is all about forgiveness, and we must have a clear understanding of it. When we don't have that clarity, we tend to say things like "If only I could forgive myself", when what we really mean is "we should stop disbelieving that we ARE forgiven (therefore, no need to forgive ourSELVES)".

An example of how NOT to do counseling!.....

Actually, I really do like the 'STOP IT' technique --sometimes we just need to be told to simply STOP IT when we are disobedient to the Word. Bob Newhart gives this 'stop it' method of counseling a whole new spin, though! Enjoy.....

He Is God.....

He Is God~
He is the First and Last,
The Beginning and the End!
He is the keeper of Creation and the Creator of all!
He is the Architect of the universe and the Manager of all times.
He always was, He always is, and He always will be ...
unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, and never Undone!
He was bruised and brought healing!
He was pierced and eased pain!
He was persecuted and brought freedom!
He was dead and brought life!
He is risen and brings power!
He reigns and brings Peace!
The world can't understand him,
The armies can't defeat Him,
The schools can't explain Him, and The leaders can't ignore Him.
Herod couldn't kill Him, The Pharisees couldn't confuse Him,
and The people couldn't hold Him!
Nero couldn't crush Him, Hitler couldn't silence Him,
The New Age can't replace Him, and "Oprah" can't explain Him away!
He is light, love, longevity, and Lord.
He is goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and God.
He is Holy, Righteous, mighty, powerful, and pure.
His ways are right,
His word is eternal,
His will is unchanging, and His mind is on me.
He is my Savior,
He is my guide, and He is my peace!
He is my Joy,
He is my comfort,
He is my Lord, and He rules my life!
I serve Him because His bond is love,
His burden is light, and His goal for me is abundant life.
I follow Him because He is the wisdom of the wise,
the power of the powerful,
the ancient of days, the ruler of rulers, the leader of leaders,
the overseer of the overcomers, and is to come. And if that
seems impressive to you, try this for size.
His goal is a relationship with ME!
He will never leave me,
never forsake me,
never mislead me,
never forget me,
never overlook me and
never cancel my appointment in His appointment book!
When I fall, He lifts me up!
When I fail, He forgives!
When I am weak, He is strong!
When I am lost, He is the way!
When I am afraid, He is my courage!
When I stumble, He steadies me!
When I am hurt, He heals me!
When I am broken, He mends me!
When I am blind, He leads me!
When I am hungry, He feeds me!
When I face trials, He is with me!
When I face persecution, He shields me!
When I face problems, He comforts me!
When I face loss, He provides for me!
When I face Death, He carries me Home!
He is everything for everybody everywhere, every time, and every
way.
He is God, He is faithful. I am His, and He is mine!
My Father in heaven can whip the father of this world.
So, if you're wondering why I feel so secure, understand this...
He said it and that settles it.
God is in control, I am on His side,
and that means all is well with my soul.

Welcome!

Welcome to my ministry blog! I hope that this can be a place for women to come and meet Jesus. It will be a place for encouragement (in the posts as well as lists of resources to help them in their Christian walk). I plan to list my favorite books, Bible studies, resources, websites, etc.
This is a work in progress, by no means complete, so keep coming back to see new stuff added!
Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question!