Self-criticism is crushing, but God can free us from it. All we have to do is be teachable.
This parable will help us understand what it feels like to be lost and how God responds to that feeling by always trying to bring us home.
What we’ve experienced is that living by religious rules is a very tempting way to avoid facing the insecurities in our hearts.
When we are insecure, it can be easy to feel like we are a “nobody going nowhere.”
God doesn’t want us to feel like we have to conform in order to be accepted, and wants to help us become strong enough to stand for what we believe and who we are.
With insecurity, God never responds with criticism. He responds with a purpose to live for something beyond themselves.
We need “Deep Forgiveness” when we feel guilty after we have confessed our sin to God and, knowing God forgives us, confessed our sin to people so they can support us in our efforts to change.