A Set of Reminders for the Believer
1. If you have accepted Jesus, you have been justified by faith. God approves of you completely. Not because your past is clean. Not because your present is impressive. Not because your future will be flawless. He approves of you because you believed in Jesus and because you know how desperately you need Him. Settle in that. Make peace with it. Then live like someone who is finally free. This freedom was never locked away or withheld from you. It has always been yours.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1
2. The grace and love God gives is unrelenting and it does not make sense to the human mind. No, we do not deserve it. No, we cannot earn it by reading our Bibles every day, praying without ceasing, or serving in church until we are exhausted. It was not achieved. It was given. Spend every day for the rest of your life leaning your full weight into that truth. Let it free you from manmade systems of trying to feel worthy or act good enough to receive more of God’s love. You are not working toward the gift. You already have it. The invitation is simple. Receive.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” Ephesians 2:8
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
“If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:11 ESV
3. Shame does not come from God. It may come from years of self criticism. It may come from the voices of others. It may come from the enemy who accuses day and night. The conviction from Holy Spirit ALWAYS has a redemption arc attached to it.
But if it sounds condemning and carries no trace of Jesus’ love and grace, it is not God. Period.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1
4. And if your mental health symptoms remain after the prayers, the fasting, and all the “right spiritual things”, maybe the question is not why they are still there. Maybe the question is this. What does it look like to trust God in the presence of the symptoms instead of waiting for their absence?
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
