“Don’t Give Yourself That Much Credit.”
Theme: God’s grace
I’ll never forget what God said to me about three years ago. I’ll also never forget how He said it. He said it with humor and a hint of loving sarcasm. It was a long day. I pulled into the driveway of the rental we were living in at the time. I was feeling rather defeated. Physically, things were stacked against me and my family. The odds were against us, again. I truly did not know how much longer I could fight the good fight of faith, and yet, I knew I did not have any other option other than to keep trusting God to do what only He could. Deep down, I knew what my problem was; I was focusing on myself and my own insufficiencies. In so doing, I was slipping into a form of self-idolatry. I was focusing on self, self, and more self rather than focusing on the awesomeness of God.
I got out of my car and stood with the driver’s side door open, my right elbow resting on the top of the door. I was staring at the crepe myrtle tree thinking, “I can’t believe what a mess I’ve made of my life.” I wasn’t even talking to God. In fact, I didn’t think about Him listening to my thoughts, but here’s what God said, “Don’t give yourself that much credit.” I laughed and said, “What?!” To which God impressed upon me the awesomeness of His grace. Essentially, He said that it is His grace that even had me where I was. It was His sovereignty that brought me this far. He reminded me that I was born into a family of addicts and abuse, but that I was no longer living in such circumstances. I had a Godly, loving husband and two children, Faith and Jacob, who were Christians. We may not have had a lot materially, but we had enough love between us to warm a house seven times over. He reminded me of what Paul preached about Jesus Christ being the only righteous judge.
If you think about it, only you know how hard it is to be you. You, the one who empathizes with yourself the most and who knows the difficult ins and outs of being you. You, who doesn’t even have to explain to yourself how hard it is to be you, You. Even you cannot judge yourself justly. You would have to go back more than ten generations to see the sins of your forefathers and then try to defend and pardon yourself for all the things that you’ve endured simply as a result of being born into your lineage. And truthfully, going back 20 generations wouldn’t even be enough because we can’t judge ourselves justly. In fact, if you think about it, aren’t we often our worst enemies? Aren’t we critical and unforgiving of ourselves for the seemingly smallest little mistake? The truth is Jesus is the only righteous judge. So, when God said, “Don’t give yourself that much credit,” I recognized that His grace has me in the palm of His hand, saving me and you from our forefather’s sins as well as our own, daily. In close, I like how God worded it. I love how God set me straight that day. I’m not going to give myself that much credit anymore because I can’t withstand the condemnation that comes with it. But when God gets all the credit, we are drawn to His grace-filled face and His eternal open arms of redemption.
So, give yourself a break today, and “Don’t give yourself that much credit.”
God’s Grace-filled presence is all around.
Romans 8:33-39 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Warrior Moms Unite!®
Love,
Kristina
The Warrior Mom Ministry was founded by Kristina Seymour, author of The Warrior Mom Handbook – Equipping Women through the Word, a Bible study for moms who desire to live by faith in the midst of their everyday lives. Kristina has learned that moms can't survive on caffeine and animal crackers alone; women in the Word and in community are united and able to stand firm. To learn more about The Warrior Mom Handbook, the Warrior Mom Ministry, and to sign up for daily encouragement, visit, www.warriormoms.net.