How Do I Give Myself Grace For My Sins?

We are often harsher with ourselves than Christ is with us. How graceful are you with yourself?

Applying Grace

It is not cliché or mushy to believe that God, in his deep heart of grace, would desire you to give yourself grace, just as He gives you grace.

John 1:16–17

For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Two realities emerge from this text:

1- This grace and freedom is not untethered from truth. Grace abounds, and it leads us into living more like Christ, not less.

2- Grace is received from Christ, don’t reject it.

Why do we often struggle to give ourselves the grace Christ has already purchased and given us? Do you speak to yourself in ways Christ never would regarding your struggles? Do you view yourself more negatively because of your weaknesses than Christ does? Do you hold onto guilt and shame from sins of years past, even though Christ has forgiven you and offered grace?

The Open Prison

Refusing to give yourself the same grace God has granted you is like standing in a prison of guilt and shame that God has opened the door to. God opened the door, you are free to leave (and even encouraged!), Yet we stay.

How many of us have stayed inside that prison longer than God would have wished for us?

I can hear the rebuttal now: “But how do I give myself grace when the sin I struggle(d) with is so wicked?” I myself have asked that question.

John 1 reveals to us the key. We do not conjure up grace to give ourselves; we are simply applying what God has granted us. It is not godly to reject what God longs to give you.

Through Jesus Christ, you can walk free of the prison of shame and guilt over sin. You can (and should) view yourself through the same lens that Christ does towards you. Which is marked with love and grace.

Reminding myself to see and talk to myself as Christ does.

Josh.