Good morning and Praise God!
The devotion for today is written by Jan Andersen, titles "PROVING OURSELVES" and discusses how sometimes we kick ourselves over past mistakes and then try to prove ourselves to others, to ourselves, or to God. She writes, "The amazing thing is that I don't need to be proving myself to anyone."
Praying you are all having a good new year so far.
God bless,
Corinne and Jan
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Today's Devotional
"PROVING OURSELVES"
by
Jan Andersen
There are times when I fail miserably at something or bitterly disappoint someone. I may spend days, weeks, or more kicking myself for my "mistake" and playing it over and over in my mind, wishing for a different outcome. But no matter how many times I rewind that movie and play it over, the ending never changes. Once it is done, there is no going back. I can only move forward. When I do move forward, there are times I feel I need to prove myself in order to make up for that past failure. Sometimes that is proving myself to another person, sometimes that is to myself, and sometimes I even try to prove myself to God.
When trying to prove myself to someone else, I usually am trying to impress them with my goodness, or my knowledge, etc. in order to erase their memory of my mistake. In some cases no matter how hard I try, the other person either is not affected by my tries or never even notices my attempts. That can be because of their own issues, or it could be because the initial offense was not as bad as I made it out to be in my own mind. Besides, trying to impress others means I am letting them dictate who I am.
If I am trying to prove to myself how I am ok, it is often futile because of my internal dialogue that keeps going back to the original transgression. I usually have incorporated that into my self-image so thoroughly that it is hard to break free from it. Sometimes I find myself name-calling, saying I am a "stupid idiot" for doing or saying whatever it was.
When it comes to proving myself to God, I will always fail because I am never going to be sinless. No matter how hard I try, I will never reach that 100% absolute perfection. There will always be something missing or another slip into old habits and hang-ups.
The amazing thing is that I don't need to be proving myself to anyone! First of all I don't need to please people here on earth, because it will never fully happen. They aren't the ones from whom I should be trying to gain favor anyway. Second, I am my own worst enemy and will not be able to absolutely please myself either. Finally, God already knows I am not perfect yet still loves me so much that he sent his Son to die in my place on the cross and rise again to bring me everlasting life. Not rejecting that free and perfect gift is what is pleasing to God. When in heaven, I won't find the need to prove myself to anyone, because I will have been fully and eternally accepted by God because of Christ and will be worshipping and serving him in all that I do.
Galatians 1:10 (NIV) "Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ."
Dear Father God, help me to see that I do not need to seek the approval of anyone but you, and that has already been accomplished through your Son, Jesus Christ. Help me by the power of your Holy Spirit to remain a faithful believer and to grow in that faith throughout my life. May I be a good servant of Christ and witness to your loving forgiveness so that others may also have faith in your redeeming love. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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Prayers are lifted up daily for
you by the Devotional Writers
and the Monthly Writing Staff
of Women's Focus Ministries.
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