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Are you too hard on yourself? 
I have a question for you today: Are you hard on yourself?

More specifically, are you hard on yourself spiritually?

I would imagine you answered yes because I feel like we are all too hard on ourselves spiritually. The “bar of expectation” is set really high and often we feel we never measure up.

I’ve been in ministry over 20 years now, served in four congregational settings and 4 different hospitals. I see it all the time in members of my church and in patient care. We never feel we are enough.

Probably 80% of the patients I see do not attend church. They used to, but do not now and they feel bad about that.

I’ve had members of my churches come up and talk about how they don’t pray enough, or very well, and how they don’t give/donate like they should, etc., etc.

The “guilt-ometer” is really high. I find my work to remind them that God has come to us in Jesus, with unconditional love we call grace.

The key to releasing this monster inside us is to simply accept the grace and to give ourselves grace. Meaning, lighten up on ourselves. We are okay. We are enough.

Church attendance, Bible reading, prayer and on down the list does not add to nor take away from God’s love for us. There isn’t anything we can do to cause God to love us any less, nor anymore!

And if you don’t think you pray correctly or pray enough, God still loves you! The Bible is clear “God is love.” (1 John 4:7).

Jesus came to remind us of God’s grace and love. Jesus took on all of our sins and died for it all on the Cross. And then the Lord rose again and life has been changed forever. Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew 11:28 “Come on to me all you are weary and need rest, for my burden is light…”

Feeling down on yourself today? A little blue perhaps?

Come to Jesus….Come back to God…..who forgives, and loves and is always “light” on you ….. And be renewed!

Pastor Doug Givan
