A few days back, our wonderful squad mentor, Shadrach Jensen, emailed our squad. What he said made me sad. What he said kind of made me disappointed in myself. He told us that our squad, by a large amount, has been posting the least amount of blogs. I thought back to the contract that we all signed before the race began – we committed to writing at least one blog every week. Now, if you’ve been following along with my blog while I’ve been gone, you know that I have not done that. And I’m sorry for that. Honestly, there are so many things that I’ve wanted to say and blog about, but I haven’t because I’ve let myself get lazy. Is that a good excuse? Not in the slightest.
I’ll tell you this: Do I regret not following through with my commitment? Yes. Do I dwell on my shortcoming and let it make me feel bad about myself? Heck no. Now I want you to do something. I want you to look at your life and ask yourself: “Is there any failure or shortcoming that I just can’t forgive myself for? Something that I’m holding on to?” It’s time to let go of that.
I’ve been reading a book called “Practicing the Presence of People” by Mike Mason (I highly recommend that you read it because it’s great). In one of his chapters, he says, “If we loved ourselves, we would not morbidly dwell upon our shortcomings, but simply confess them and be free.” Think about this: if you aren’t letting God free you of your shortcomings, you aren’t completely loving yourself. To go a little further, if you aren’t loving yourself, then how are you going to love others?
Later he writes, “When we get bogged down in self-punishment, we are setting ourselves up as judge. But there is only one Judge, and that is God. ‘I do not even judge myself,’ wrote Paul. ‘It is the Lord who judges me’ (1 Corinthians 4:3-4). The Lord’s judgment of me is that, through the blood of Jesus Christ, all my sin is forgiven. If I sit in God’s place and continue to judge myself, I nullify the gospel. Moreover, pouring contempt on myself ensures that I will treat others just as harshly.”
If you have things that are like a dark cloud constantly hovering over you, I encourage you to give those things to God. Let yourself be free. Live in the freedom that Christ has given you. Galatians 5:1 says, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” See that? Christ has set us free TO BE FREE. Not to live a life held captive by the things we have done wrong. Forgive yourself like Christ has forgiven you. I assure you that the feeling of freedom is far greater and far sweeter than the captivity of sin.
I love you all. You are valuable. You are worthy. You are loved. You are cherished.
Love,
Megan
