Some people repeatedly endure a vicious cycle of defeat and discouragement.  If you have ever experienced this, then you know it is certainly no picnic.  This article will help you break the cycle of defeat and discouragement.

The vicious cycle goes something like this: “I know that God is able. I know what He promised. I really do believe that He will, but, you know, I just haven’t prayed as much as I should. I haven’t read the Bible enough; I haven’t been as loving as I should. I haven’t really done enough for Him lately…”

Praying, reading the Bible, and loving others are wonderful things you can do.  But, what are all of those things?  They are good works.

I am highly in favor of praying.  The same is true with reading the Bible, and loving others and doing good things.  But, they are all works.

Many Christians believe that being right and worthy in God’s eyes is dependent upon their actions: what they will do, or won’t do.  The more they do good or godly things, the more right and worthy they think they will be in God’s eyes.  And then of course, their prayers will be answered, right?

Hold On A Minute

Take a step back for a moment or two and consider a couple of things written in the Bible. You read in the scriptures that nothing that can separate you from God’s love. In other words, His love for you is unconditional.

His love for you does not change if you pray a little or if you pray a lot.  I know for some that almost sounds like blasphemy, but the scriptures proclaim that we simply cannot be separated from His love.  We love Him, the Bible says, because He first loved us, therefore our works do not affect His love for us.

And what about being right, or righteous in His eyes?  Our being made right in God’s eyes has nothing to do with our works, but rather it is from the completed work of Christ.  If we could, by our own works, make ourselves righteous then we would have never needed a savior.

You don’t become more righteous in God’s eyes if you read more of the Bible, and less righteous if you don’t read the Bible, because as a Christian you have already been made righteous.  God sees you as His righteous child and nothing will ever separate you from His love. Nothing.

Yes, it’s great to do things that enhance your spiritual growth and walk. But you must remember none of those things will make you more acceptable in His sight. The Bible says that you already are holy and accepted.

The Cycle

Now here’s how that cycle of defeat and discouragement happens.   Someone does a lot of good things, and then, because of all their good works, they feel really right in God’s eyes.  They go to sleep that night with a lot of confidence, knowing that God really loves them.

But what happens the next day when they don’t do as much as they did the day before?  Maybe they didn’t pray as much, or even read the Bible at all.  At the end of the day they realize that they didn’t do as much as they did the day before, which leads to discouragement.

So the next day, they try even harder. But how can you or I ever do enough good things to make us right in God’s eyes and deserving of His unending love?  To even think that we could come close is pretty egotistical when you stop and think about it, isn’t it?

And what happens when you have a bad day?  On the days when you mess up and really fall short, it’s very easy to feel condemned and discouraged.  At that point many feel they need to try to “pay for what they have done wrong,” by again, doing more works.

It becomes nothing but a vicious cycle of defeat and discouragement.  But when you really think about it logically, if you are doing works to be right in God’s eyes and to be worthy of receiving his promises, just how much would you really have to do in order to arrive at that point?

What is it that we could do, or refrain from doing, that would earn His love and His willingness to provide what He has promised?

Break Free!

Here’s a suggestion that will really help you end the vicious cycle of defeat and discouragement.  Why not just believe what the Bible says and accept God’s unconditional love for you.  Believe that you already are righteous in His eyes!  No, you didn’t earn it, and neither did I, but we both can decide to accept and believe it, and say, “thank you.”

Getting to that place will have a great impact on your life.  Your confidence in God to fulfill His promises to you will increase because you are no longer doing good works to make yourself loved and right in His eyes.  Instead, you will be doing good works out of gratitude for what He has done for you.

It will make a dynamic impact on your self esteem and self image, because you will be free of sin consciousness and condemnation, knowing Jesus Christ paid the price for your sins and there is no more price to be paid.

It may take a little time to put off the old way of thinking, and put on the new.  But it is well worth the effort.  When you do, it will really help you to accept that He is not only able to do for you what He has promised, but that He is also willing to do for you what He has promised, because you are right in His sight, and He loves you unconditionally.

Mike Verdicchio
2012

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