Make Peace With Yourself 

What kind of relationship do you have with yourself? Are you at peace with yourself, or are you constantly upset with yourself about something? One thing I’ve learned over many years of walking with God is that in order to live authentically, we need to pursue and live in peace. 

Here are a few practical ways you can cultivate peace with yourself:

Receive God’s forgiveness.

When we sin, the best way to respond is to repent, ask God to forgive us, and then choose not to allow feelings of guilt to torment us. Constantly feeling guilty will only weaken us and cause us to fall into more sin. But when we receive God’s forgiveness, we can move forward in strength and peace, knowing that He’s removed all guilt from us (see Psalm 103:12; 1 John 1:9). 

Make the decision to like yourself.

For years, I dealt with self-hatred because of the sexual abuse I endured growing up. Because I didn’t like myself, enjoying peace with anyone else was almost impossible for me. However, as I spent time in God’s Word and discovered just how much He loved me, I eventually began to see myself the way He sees me and even love myself the way He does. Eleanor Roosevelt rightly observed, “Before we can make friends with anyone else, we must first make friends with ourselves.” 

Focus on how far you’ve come.

The enemy wants us to constantly focus on everything that is wrong with us and look at how far we still have to go. But God desires for us to rejoice in how far we have already come! I love 2 Corinthians 3:18 (AMPC). It says that God will change us “from one degree of glory to another.” What does this mean? It means that little by little, He will transform us by His Word and help us to grow. 

I used to focus too much on my failures and problems. It not only sunk my attitude, but it kept me from seeing the good things God was doing in the moment. That is when the Lord encouraged me to declare good things about the progress I was making. I started saying, “I’m not where I want to be, but thank God I’m not where I used to be. I’m okay and I’m on my way!”

No matter where you are on your journey, one thing is for sure: God is on your side. He is the One Who brought you into relationship with Him, and He is the One Who will change you.

Pray: “God, thank You for Your forgiveness, for Your love, and for creating me with unique, valuable gifts and talents. Help me today to receive Your grace, see myself and others with Your eyes, and to celebrate what You’ve made. In Jesus’ name, amen.”