“Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”- Romans 8:1-2
In Chapter 8 (“Forgiving Yourself”) of How Can I Possibly Forgive?, Sara Horn begins by distinguishing between conviction and condemnation. She notes: “There is a difference in the conviction God gives us when he wants our attention over something we need to change, and in the condemnation we put on ourselves.”
Sara states that when we’re not sure we’ve done anything wrong, it’s hard to let go of our resentment and blame. How, then, do we forgive ourselves when we actually have done something wrong? “Self-love”, or accepting ourselves “just the way we are”, only is capable of taking us so far. We need God in our lives to feel forgiven, because God’s love never quits.
If we refuse to forgive or continue to hold grudges against ourselves, or demand personal perfection, essentially we are quitting on ourselves. We create a problem, however, when we ask God to forgive us but are unable to forgive ourselves. Rather than trying to figure out how to forgive ourselves, we need to rely on God’s forgiveness, faithfulness, and favor.
Today’s question: Following your vocation loss, have you felt more conviction or condemnation? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Faithfulness and favor”