Digging Deeper

Heart Guide for Lesson 18:
Love Thyself

Remember the exercise on fear in the Digging Deeper section of the previous lesson (Accepted in the Beloved)? We need to ask the same question—what am I really afraid of—in order to get at the root issues behind why we have such a hard time accepting certain things about ourselves. None of the nine 'unacceptable' things stand in the way of God's perfect acceptance of us. Why are we so bothered by them?

It would be great if we could just look at a list like this and say, 'OK God, if this is what I have to accept about me, you've got it!' and be done. But for most of us our hearts need to hear compelling reasons for letting go after years of entrenched opposition to grace. Make no mistake about it—these issues are 'grace killers' in our lives. So let's go for the grace offered us.

First, ask the fruitful question: What is it about this that makes me so afraid to accept myself? Then write down the answer in God that will help you let it go.

This scares me because of___  (1-9),
but ___ (God's truth that would help me)

1) Past hurtful events,
but ______________________.

2) Failures, wrong choices,
but ______________________.

3) Weaknesses/foolishness,
but ______________________.

4) Lack of knowledge,
but ______________________.

5) Family heritage,
but ______________________.

6) Present limitations,
but ______________________.

7) Personality and patterns,
but ______________________.

8) Your fallen nature,
but ______________________.

9) Physical appearance,
but ______________________.

Return to Love Thyself: Head to Heart Guides for more ways to go deeper into these truths or stay 'on course' by going to the...