How much time to you spend with God and allowing Him to speak life into and over you? Does it compare to the amount of time you spend criticizing yourself? Are you giving the devil more time to speak junk into your head than God? What are you believing? The lies of the devil or truths about who God says you are? Yes, we aren’t perfect and our time with God thanks to Jesus we can give our mistakes over to God and ask Him to forgive us and help us to avoid the temptations and traps in the future.
Anchoring Identity in God’s Truth
In our busy lives as fathers, it’s easy to prioritize self-criticism over spending meaningful time with God. Yet, scripture reminds us in Psalm 139:14 that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God. This truth should anchor our identity, shifting our focus from our flaws to God’s perfect creation within us. Instead of allowing negative self-talk to dominate our minds, we should invest in personal time with God, where He speaks life and truth into our hearts.
Embracing Grace and Freedom
One key takeaway from scripture is found in Romans 8:1, which assures us that
"there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
This powerful truth frees us from the burden of self-condemnation when we fall short. As fathers, we can apply this by extending grace to ourselves, just as God extends grace to us. Rather than dwelling on our mistakes, we should humbly confess them to God, knowing that His forgiveness is abundant, and His love is unwavering.
Practical Steps Towards Renewal
Putting these principles into practice requires intentional steps. Start each day with prayer and scripture reading, allowing God’s Word to shape your thoughts and beliefs. When self-criticism arises, counter it with affirmations of God’s truth about your identity. Additionally, seek accountability and support from fellow believers who can encourage you in your faith journey. By prioritizing alone time with God and embracing His truths about who we are, we can overcome self-criticism and walk confidently in His grace as fathers.
Walking Confidently in God’s Grace
In conclusion, as dads, let’s remember that our identity is rooted in Christ, not in our own perceived flaws or mistakes. By spending quality time with God, we can silence the voice of self-criticism and allow His truth to reign in our hearts. Let’s strive to prioritize God’s Word over the lies of the enemy, confidently embracing our identity as beloved children of God. And when we do stumble, let’s respond with humility and repentance, trusting in God’s abundant grace to forgive and restore us.
Today’s Devotional:
This year, I am utilizing the 365 Daily Devotions book I received for Christmas, applying its teachings specifically in the context of fatherhood. It’s called WALKING WITH GOD by DAVID JEREMIAH. It’s exciting to learn from a new resource this year as we have tried different options the past two years and will keep working through this for 2024. For more information about the author and his ministry, visit DavidJeremiah.org.
Topic: CONFESSION SESSION
Verse: Psalms 51:2-3 NIV
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
Today’s Devotional kicks off with the truth and reality that “guilt is a powerful emotion” and “can be painful when it is gnawing away at our cowardly conscience, pressing toward the freeing act of confession.” Let’s be the dads who spend time in God’s Word to be able to see real people dealing with real life and how they lean into God to get through the tough and rough times.
What would it take for you to realize you are in need of a confession session?
Today’s Devotional speaks to David who wrote many of the Psalms and shares his heart with God who captures it so that he can share it with us too. We see in today’s Psalm how David was experiencing and dealing with severe guilt. Consider what could have been going on in his mind or would be going through your mind had you been in the situation and done all that David did in relations to Bathsheba. Imagine getting confronted by a prophet like Nathan who opens your eyes to the reality of what you’ve done. Are you in need of a confession session like David was in today’s verse?
Sin isn’t something that happens in a vacuum
Today’s Devotional shares how when we sin it’s not only hurting ourselves but it hurts others too. We read how our sin hurts God too. Imagine how much it hurts God’s heart when we choose to “disobey His commands and go against His loving will”.
Today’s Devotional points us to the way to deal with sin and the pain of missing the mark.
We need to set aside time to have a confession session with God. We need to lean in and not only share what we’ve done and our sorrow and need to apologize to Him for it but also a time to agree with Him and His plans and receive His forgiveness. Let’s be the dads who also confess our sins to the person we’ve hurt or sinned against too. Today, let’s make the decision to free our conscience by breaking the chains through confession and forgiveness. Let’s shine the light on it so that it gets cleared up and taken away at the cross.
“Biblical forgiveness… is the beginning of restored freedom and renewed health.”
KEN NICHOLS
