My priest says I’m too hard on myself

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Le_Crouton

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So my priest is my spiritual director and he says I’m too hard on myself that that I ought to focus on who I am now instead of the sins I committed in the past.

This was so hard to hear but man oh man am I grateful that I heard it. Brothers and sisters, if you’re being too hard on yourself, know that you’re loved by God no less even though you sinned.

That’s all I wanted to say 🙂
 
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Attending Divine Mercy day has helped me move on from past sin.
 
The regret, the displeasure, the voluntary pain of the sins we have committed, should last all our lives time, even if these sins are already forgiven and totally satisfied. This is the teaching of St Thomas
 
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I too think your priest is very wise. If one is constantly looking back and beating up on themself, they’re not focusing on growing and improving and building the relationship with God going forward. I too think this falls under the message of the Divine Mercy and also the teachings of St. Therese of Lisieux.
 
This is how Protestantism starts with Martin Luther. 😀
 
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OP, this is good to hear and I’m glad you said it. God bless you richly. 😃✝️
 
My confessor has also told me this as it has taken quite a while for me to accept past sins of impurities that I have struggled with. My priest told me to remember that everyone sins and not to overthink it, don’t get so bogged down by your sins because then we have a tendency to think we are worthless and we might as well indulge in sin.

My priest said it’s good to focus on the positives, like how far I’ve come or if I happen to fall, did I fall hard or did a quickly say ‘no’ Jesus help me. By looking at the triumphs over the failures, it helps us all grow I think and that’s what my Priest was telling me.

Thinking this way has also helped me know when I can or can’t receive the Eucharist. Before I would just receive for years while I was under mortal sin, so not good. Now that I know it has been habitual and such in the past, I can better identify when I haven’t fully consented to something because I’m focusing on positives not negatives. So it’s really a much better thing for us, your priest gave you good advice 🙂
 
Le_Crouton said:
… the sins I committed in the past.
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In Confession once I told the priest that I still feel shame and grief over sins that are already forgiven, particularly when someone else was harmed and restitution cannot be made (for example, I damaged property when I was a youth). He told me, among other things, to pray for those I harmed or offended – that may be the only thing I can do for them — and to pray for my own peace and spiritual growth. That is one way to call upon God’s mercy instead of trying to bear the full weight of my guilt.
 
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The joy of Christ coming into your life is the forgiveness of your sins.

If you do not understand that you are forgiven, but constantly beating yourself up over your past sins, you really haven’t accepted Christ forgiveness and mercy.

You need to listen to your priest and ask him to show you how to develop a contemplative prayer life.

Jim
 
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