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| That All Important Word...NEW |
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For a long time, I let my past cover me with shame. I could not forgive myself for the mistakes that I had willingly made. I knew God had forgiven me, but I really didn't feel that I was worth it. I felt I deserved severe punishment, and I did suffer the consequences of my bad choices, but I felt that by not forgiving myself, I could make the punishment more severe...and I thought I deserved that, for all the people I had hurt, not to mention the hurt I had caused God.
It wasn't until a Sunday School teacher made me see that God doesn't want this for us. He has wiped the slate clean, and as long as our hearts change course, and we turn from our wrongdoings, He wants us to wipe the slate clean too. We are not better than God, so if He doesn't want to continue to remind us of our sins, who are we to keep track of them ourselves, and keep holding on to them?
5:17 Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a NEW creation; the old has passed away, behold, the NEW has come.
3:5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 3:6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 3:7 In these you once walked, when you lived in them. 3:8 But now put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth. 3:9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices 3:10 and have put on the NEW nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
With the NEW year, I have heard so much about NEW beginnings, starting over, wiping the slate clean. We don't need a NEW year to do that. We don't need to make NEW year's resolutions to do that. All we need to do is wake up every morning, and live it better than yesterday. We can't be perfect, but we can be striving to be more like God each and every day, until we die and are taken into His presence, where we will be made NEW and perfect.
I don't know about you, but I am so thankful for each NEW day that God gives me, and I know He is giving me another chance to get it right. Kind of like the movie Ground Hog Day...keep reliving it until you get it right. Only this isn't fiction, this is real life. God wants us to be like Him, and He gives us a NEW chance every day to do it. So no matter how bad yesterday was, whether you fought with your spouse, yelled at your kids, lost your patience at work, today is a new day, and you have another chance. Aren't we lucky that we have such an awesome God, who knows us so well, and knows we are going to keep screwing up, and that we need lots of chances? I am grateful to Him for that. And by the time I go to be with Him, I will have made myself perfect in Him.
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| I so agree with you, I use to be one of those people that couldn't forgive myself as well.great post. Thank God for His loving grace and mercy.Blessings to you |
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| I am reading a Christian fictional novel, where one of the characters pointed at a truck's side mirrors for looking behind you. She said to the man, "You see those?" meaning the mirrors, "God doesn't have those." He doesn't look back on our sins, throwing them in our face, and holding them against us. Ain't that grand??? Everyday can be New year's day, like a Carolyn Arends song says. Good blog. |
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| Deb, as you say...each day is a NEW day...Praise God for that, too!! He lets us start each day fresh again and for that I am so truly thankful. Thanks for the reminder. |
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Gene |
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January 03, 2008 at 3:18pm |
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Thanks, Deb, for a NEW outlook on the word and its application in my life.
I'd add one thing about that quote, Lara. It's not that God doesn't have rear view mirrors - He's seen the past, the present AND the future. It's just that it doesn't matter anymore. He knows exactly what I've done and what I will yet do to mess things up. They're just accounted nothing. They no longer matter. |
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Thanks Deb for such a insightful blog. I too could not fogive myself
for a long time for my sins. Praise the lord!!!
I look forward to a each New day and like you said,"Aren't we lucky that we have such an awesome God, ..."
Special Blessings & Prayers |
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Yep, I'm on of those.... just can't seem to forgive myself... let me slip a little and I'm convinced that I'm the worse Christian around. I am coming out of one of those dark times when satan really gets into you head with doubt. In fact, Lara posted a blog about her walk with the Lord and it was like she had entered my mind. By the way Lara your post really helped me see clearer.
God did wipe our slates clean and we need to remember that. Thanks Deb for another wonderful blog. |
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Hey, Deb! That's so funny! In my quiet time I journaled the same thing--every day, every hour, every minute can be a new beginning. Its so funny we wait for the New Year, set lofty goals, and feel deflated when we fail because we just set the bar so high to make up for all of the "new beginnings" we delayed until this one day! Great blog! Our God is awesome! |
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Deb |
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January 04, 2008 at 12:25pm |
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Tina, I am glad that you have forgiven yourself. It is a hard thing to do, but something that we must do in order to be better disciples of Christ!
Lara, that is a neat way to look at things. Something else I have heard, that when God looks at us He sees Jesus, and not us and our sinful ways because Jesus stands between us. Thank God for that!
DC, your welcome, and thank you for your comments!
Gene, yes He can see all, but chooses not to look. Isn't that cool?
ds13099, once we do forgive ourselves, doesn't it feel good? Only with God's help can we do it though, as well as forgiving others.
Cheryl, We all need a reminder that God wipes the slate clean, and we all need His help to help us wipe it clean.
Chrissy, I try not to make New Year's resolutions, simply because they usually don't last. It is much better to start each day new, and try to do our best.
Alissa Lynne, thank you!
Overcomer, yes, I would agree that relationships that have that mark of our mistakes on them, make it harder to for us to forgive ourselves, especially if that person or persons we hurt haven't forgiven us. Perhaps they even hold it against us, and all that just helps us hold onto it longer. All I can say is that we can only do it with God's help, and it takes time.
The Light, Amen to that!
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| Great blog, Deb! Couldn't agree with you more! Each day is a new day, a day that the LORD hath made! What an awesome, merciful GOD we serve! |
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| Deb,great blog.Why do we let Satan bind us in guilt,when God removes our sins as far as the east is from teh west? He tosses those sins into a sea of forgotenness & we just keep trudging up their misery.You are right each day is a new day & thank God that by His grace we can start anew. |
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Deb |
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January 06, 2008 at 12:30pm |
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Yahschild, Amen to that!
racunpoodle, I think the devil is very crafty in his ways, and we can hang on to our sins without even realizing it sometimes. Thank God that we are new every morning! |
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| I never really thought about it that way, but now that you brought it to my attention I realize you are right. There is no sense in feeling guilty, or having regrets, all we need to do is begin anew each and every day. |
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Deb |
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January 15, 2008 at 10:42am |
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| thenuthouse, that is what bloggin on MyChurch is all about. We get to see another person's perspective, and it might be something that is totally foreign to the way we think. I am glad that you got something out of this! |
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