How To Love Oneself

  • Thread starter Thread starter BintuluChuchGuy
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

BintuluChuchGuy

Guest
Im finding it hard to love myself…every time I feel that I accept myself and start to love me for who I am,I somehow get pulled back to the past and start to hate myself.My past actions really make me ashame of myself…although I went for confession,I still feel the same.

I feel so still like I canot move on,my prayers are dry and happiness just feels temporary…I feel no peace in my soul:(

I know there are some people who are like me,who somehow hate themselves.A little advice from those who manage to overcome this problem is welcomed.
 
well, when Jesus said we must forgive to be forgiven, I think he meant, we must forgive ourselves as well.

So I always start with forgiving myself, then it is easier to love myself.

Just like we should do with others.

Confession always helps as well.

God bless!
 
BintuluChuchGuy said:
Im finding it hard to love myself…every time I feel that I accept myself and start to love me for who I am,I somehow get pulled back to the past and start to hate myself.My past actions really make me ashame of myself…although I went for confession,I still feel the same.

I feel so still like I canot move on,my prayers are dry and happiness just feels temporary…I feel no peace in my soul:(

I know there are some people who are like me,who somehow hate themselves.A little advice from those who manage to overcome this problem is welcomed.
Click to expand...
Dear one,
What you are going through is not uncommon. It is part of the process of sanctification.
You hate the sins of your past and this is only right.
What you have not yet accomplished is to disassociate your “New self” from that “Old self”. This takes some time and additional effort to grow in Holiness to the point where these old memories retreat, becoming just distant recollections of another person altogether.

Recall the Bible passage where Jesus talks about the Demon driven out and how it wanders about in the wasteland and, finding no place to rest, returns to find it’s old dwelling clean, and swept but empty. It then goes and brings in seven more demons…

Right now you are like the person who has expelled the demon and has cleaned and swept the dwelling (your soul). You are also seeking not to leave the dwelling empty but to fill it with God, with virtue, with acts of charity, with Grace.
But the demon is knocking and trying to get back in. He is pounding at the door and calling to you and thus disturbing your peace…
Let Him pound but don’t let him in…Instead, keep praying and keep doing the Lords Will. Practice the virtues of Charity and Loving others. In this way not only will you weaken the demon, you will strengthen your own Love of self as God Loves you.
Do Little things with Great Love… and All will be well

Peace
James
 
You’re right,I do sound like the guy possessed by a demon in the bible…Ill keep praying.Thank you for your replies:)
 
I have a large stock of awful sins in my past and found it very hard to move on, even after Confession - it was something that came gradually. I also got some good advice from people on how to move on -

(1) once we have said sorry to God He doesn’t want us to keep going over the past, one Confession wipes it all away, we don’t need to keep beating ourselves up because as you recognise yourself, we will not be able to move on spiritually.

(2) this could be the work of the devil, trying to make you feel so unworthy and ashamed, as though your sins were so bad God couldn’t forgive them. God wants to draw you closer to Himself, so if you have confessed your past misdemeanours, it definitely isn’t God blocking you from moving forward.

(3) it could be coming from yourself, that you are not able to fully trust in the infinite depths of God’s mercy, as in, yes I know God is forgiving, but am I acting as if I believe this is true? As humans we put limits on what we think can be forgiven, or loved, because we are human, but God has no limits to His love and mercy.

Hope this helps. The reason I give the above advice is because I was in your position and this helped me, and continues to help me when I have flashbacks to the person I was and feel too discouraged to continue or too unworthy to even approach God. Another thing to do which will work - pray. Pray pray pray and ask God to help you leave this guilt behind, remember the verse from the Psalm “O wash me more and more from my **guilt **and cleanse me from my sin” - praying these words also helped me tremendously. God wants you to leave your guilt behind so you can flourish - ask Him for the grace to do so.
 
I find that the less time I spend trying to love myself, and the more time I spend showing others love, the better I feel. In fact I think a lot of modern psychology turns us inward way too much. The saints didn’t necessarily love themselves but they sure did and do love us!

Go out and do something loving for your fellow human being. You can start with your own family. When you show others love, you will feel more loving and satisfied, because it’s what Jesus wants us to do.

Look forward instead of staring for too long backward. Your sins have been absolved, but you need something positive to replace that worry and concern. Go do some acts of charity. I’ll bet you won’t even think about those sins when you are being Jesus for someone else.

👍
 
As someone who has this difficult, by God’s grace I am getting through. I can only share what helps me - reading what God’s promise is for me. Isaiah 43, Psalm 37 etc. whenever I feel down I repeat God’s word to myself but remember the saying.

I KNOW I’M SOMEBODY COS GOD DOESN’T MAKE JUNK 👍
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top