Jesus sacrificed himself on the cross for them just as much as he did for you.
The first thing Jesus said upon the cross he said, “Forgive them father for they know not what they do”(Luke 23:34).
They are not evil, they are ignorant.
Pray that blindness be broken off.
Pray that their eyes may see.
Pray for their salvation.
Pray for their full surrender.
When someone is causing you pain and showing hatred, praying for them is one of the hardest things to do.
It is not easy, but it is possible!!
Cry out to the Lord and ask him to heal your pain, ask him to strengthen you to intercede on their behalf. They don’t know better, but you do. Do what is righteous. Show love in all circumstances & if and when you can’t, just say Jesus. He will cover you and them 🙏❤️
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
2 Corinthians 6:14
When we enter into relationship with someone who does not share our same values or calling, we become unequally yoked.
No peace can be found in this type of relationship. You will hurt one another. As one pulls in one direction, the other will pulls in the opposite direction. You’ll each be left feeling alone and frustrated.
Some of my ladies need to hear this, we cannot change a man, only God can! I had to learn this & when I finally did, the peace of the Lord fell upon me, and washed away all of my pain.
𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗘 𝗕𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧:
Getting involved in a relationship with someone who did not share my same religious views, or values pulled me away from God. It didn’t happen immediately, and I didn’t actually realize it was happening, until I felt so unworthy to even step foot back into my church.
Conflict and anger slowly became a daily part of daily life. Deep within I wanted this person to be the man I needed him to be: a man who pointed me to Christ, but he did not and he could not. Because when it came down to core values, there was division.
If your faith is important to you, wait for the one who will lead you to the feet of Jesus.
✝️Wait for the one who will pray with you and for you.
✝️Wait for the one who will go to battle for you in the spirit.
✝️Wait for the one who will love you the way Christ loves the church.
✝️Wait for the one who will do the kingdom work with you.
Do not settle, and if you have settled know you don’t have to stay there. Hold your head up high, repent and begin your walk with God again. Walk in confidence knowing that he created you for a partner who will grow beside you and cover you spiritually as you both mature in faith.
Doing it my way failed me, and it will fail you too. Eventually the high will fade and you’ll find yourself in a low place living in torment inside of your mind. My hope that my Love for God would be contagious and spill over into my partner, left me broken in the end.
I know that am not the only one to experience this or walk through this valley. Glory to God that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. And Glory to God that he is a God of restoration. Wait on the Lord!
There is joy in the waiting when you fall in love with Jesus ❤️🙏🙌
Pray with me:
Heavenly father, I lift up anyone who is hurting tonight, and being tormented by fear, division, mental or physical abuse or guilt and shame. Remind your children that you created each of us with a divine purpose. Help us to seek relationships that are divine appointments in line with your perfect will for our lives. Father God, today we come before you, and we repent of our sins. We ask you to forgive us for all the times we took our life into our own hands. Our lives are not our own. Everything we go through has purpose and is for your glory. Father God, strengthen anyone who is not in the place you have called them to, and give them the courage to move. May they open their hearts to you in full surrender. Father God, remove from all of us anything that is not from you or of you. Our hearts desire is to grow close to you and to walk in your purpose. May your will be done in our lives and through our lives. Father, may anyone who comes in contact with this word, surrender their heart, and fall at your feet. Lead us Lord, and show us what true love is. In Jesus mighty name we pray, Amen.
When you make a mistake, you must be kind to yourself, and give yourself the same grace you would allow another person. But for me, showing myself kindness is an area I personally know I need a lot of improvement in. I’m hard on myself when I make a mistake and I find it easier to forgive others than to forgive myself.
I am on a journey of healing, so this means, seeking to learn why forgiving myself and having grace for myself is so difficult.
When I make a mistake, I tend to call myself names, and sometimes those around me have heard it. I’ve called myself dumb, I’ve asked myself what is wrong with you, I’ve apologized to others, and I’ve spent hours stuck in mind battle trying to understand how I could make such a “stupid mistake”.
Let’s just say I treat myself worse than I would treat any other human being who has made a mistake. Even the simple ones. Being hard on myself can be because I hold myself to a higher standard than I hold others, or because I’ve had others say those very things to me. But no matter what the reasoning or source is, I’ve realized this is no longer acceptable and must change.
The Bible says our tongues hold the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21), and while I try my best not to use my tongue to degrade others, sadly, I can’t say the same for the way I have used my words or thoughts towards myself.
Yesterday, I felt Holy Spirit speaking strong to me telling me, it’s time to begin changing this. This happened after making what I felt was a crazy & ridiculous mistake. I felt lead to spend time trying to understand why is it truly easier for me to forgive others over myself. I felt lead to ask myself: “Do you think they deserve forgiveness more than you do? And the answer was no. They most certainly did not deserve forgiveness more than I did. And, I was not any more unworthy than they were.
A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself.
Proverbs 12:17
When we apply this Bible verse inwardly, we learn that us being hard on ourselves, ultimately only hurts ourselves.
If you are someone who tries to practice showing kindness to others, why do you do it? Is it because you don’t like hurting others? Is it because you want to be seen as a good person? Is it because you know it is just morally or biblically wrong not to be kind to others?…These are some of the things I’ve had to self reflect on.
Why are some of us able to protect others, yet we have no personal boundaries set to protect ourselves from our very own self-directed insults?
We are human. We will all make mistakes.
The above statement is something I have been told many times from both friends and family members.
If you’re someone like me who is hard on yourself, try to remind yourself of this when your thoughts start to move in before you place yourself on trial. YOU ARE HUMAN, ALL HUMANS MAKE MISTAKES. Let’s remind ourselves that there was only one perfect man who walked earth, and that was our savior Jesus Christ.
Going forward may we learn to allow mistakes to be an opportunity for personal reflection and growth.
May we begin to cut off the insults instantly, before we allow them to take root in our minds and become in-planted lies we believe. Doing this will take discipline and will not come easy at first. However, I have committed myself to begin doing the work to get to the point where I will see myself through God’s eyes. Will you make this commitment to yourself with me today?
Let’s loves ourselves and be patient and kind to ourselves.
Jesus calls us to be humble and put others before ourselves. But this doesn’t mean we are called not to be humble towards ourselves and it doesn’t mean be harder on ourselves allowing negative self thoughts to take root. We all are God’s children. Our lives are a gift. So let’s learn to recognize when we aren’t extending to ourselves the same grace which we extend to others.
I know I’ve got to do better and be a better example to my daughters. Because I would never want them being hard on themselves or unkind to themselves. If you can relate, please leave a comment or contact me directly and let me know!! My prayer is that you too would learn to show yourself kindness. 🙏
~Growing with you, Sandy
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
Father God, we thank you for your love. For loving us even during the times we aren’t loving ourselves. Father forgive us for not seeing ourselves the way you see us. Forgive us for the word curses we have spoke over ourselves without knowing that was what we were doing. Give us wisdom so that kindness will begin to flow from our tongues. May kind thoughts of ourselves run through our minds. In Jesus name, I declare the word curses we placed over ourselves are now broken. I decree that we will begin to show ourselves the same grace, mercy and kindness we extend to others. Holy Spirit, I ask that you move in and heal the hearts, minds and spirits of your people. Father God, remind them who they are.
Brothers and sisters pray these words to God right now with me: I am smart and not dumb. I am wise and not stupid. A set back does not mean I am stuck in this place of disappointment. I will reflect on why the instance, circumstance or situation happened the way it did. And I will get back up and acknowledge my mistake and try again. Maybe that means rescheduling the meeting, budgeting better and redoing finances, studying harder and retaking the test, correcting an error and resubmitting the application, pick yourself up and try again!!
Father God, we thank you for Holy Spirit conviction and for reminding us we can learn from setbacks and mistakes. Holy Spirit,lead us on this journey. Lord Jesus, remind us to love and show kindness to ourselves in the same way you do to us. We know only you are able, in your mighty name we pray, Amen.
It was such a difficult time in my life and I was struggling to hold myself together. I felt confused, conflicted and as if there was no one I could open up to. I didn’t feel like anyone could understand how I was feeling. I remembered how my younger self would share with all my friends (or those whom I thought were my friends), but I was now in a different place. Life taught me that the advice they all gave made my problems and confusion worse. I had to acknowledge the lesson my past taught me, so I held on for dear life in this internal struggle. My mind went in multiple directions as I sat there alone with tears burning my checks. Why was I here going through this? Why was I feeling this way? I know I am not who I used to be yet here I was in a situation I never imagined being in. Here I was reading insults from someone I thought was my friend…
Why is it that some feel the need to judge your mistakes or sins as if they never fall short?