Being an imperfect person is really hard.

It’s really difficult to accept that, even with the best intentions and all of the effort we can muster, we still hurt people. We still make mistakes. We still cause damage. We still have areas of weakness where we just aren’t very good at something.

And, if we let the enemy tell us that’s the end of our story, we’re left feeling discouraged, defeated, and hopeless and it prevents us from living in the freedom that Christ died for.

The wonderful news of Jesus is that your mistakes and weaknesses don’t define who you are.

It is true that you fall short. You sin. You hurt people. You’re not great at everything. AND it’s also true that your mistakes can never be bigger than Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for you. You can never out-sin His grace.

He died on the cross to take away our sins, but often, we won’t let go of them so we never actually feel the relief of that weight being lifted off of our shoulders.

So, the question is – how do you live in that freedom?

First, own the fullness of your mistakes and weaknesses & do what you can to fix them.

This is hard.

It takes a lot of strength to acknowledge and confess our shortcomings.

It’s uncomfortable and a lot of us are in the habit of knowing our mistakes happened but trying to:

  • minimize them
  • justify them
  • defend them
  • stuff them
  • or point a finger of blame at someone or something else that made you do it.

And low self-esteem makes it much harder to accept responsibility for our mistakes or acknowledge when we aren’t good at something.

If we already felt like we weren’t good enough to begin with, then adding a mistake or weakness on top of that can feel like too much to bear.

The shame of that mistake labeling who we are is overwhelming.

But when you truly believe your core identity in Christ, shame loses its power.

Admitting our mistakes and repairing what we can brings light into the darkness.

This applies to little things (like accidentally bumping into someone’s arm at the grocery store or not being able to do a push-up) just as much as it applies to big things (like being unfaithful to a spouse or struggling to tell the truth).

It is only when we can admit the fullness of our mistakes and weaknesses that we can experience the fullness of God’s grace.

Don’t miss the beauty of confession.

When you are in the habit of immediately taking full responsibility for your mistakes and readily owning your weaknesses, you:

  • build your confidence in Christ
  • deepen your relationship with God
  • strengthen your relationships with the people around you
  • give yourself permission to be human

Trust that it’s okay to fully admit and own your mistakes because God’s power is perfected in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) and they don’t define who you are.

Being able to acknowledge your mistakes, do what you can to repair them, and lift the rest up to Christ on a daily basis is such an important practice for growing in confidence in Christ – that’s why I included the “Confession” section on the daily prayer journal sheet in the Prayer Journal Bundle.

Use that prayer journal sheet today, making sure to fill in the confession section.

I like to use the words, “I am so sorry for _____ (losing my temper with my son, snapping at my husband, overeating again, not trusting You in my finances, etc).”

If you don’t have the Prayer Journal Bundle, just use your own journal or sheet of paper to write down your confessions. But this is only the first part of the activity!

Tomorrow, I’ll explain the second part that is necessary for us to be able to experience living in the freedom Christ offers us.

Talk again tomorrow!

Becky