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It's so easy to get drawn into negativity towards ourselves -- we know ourselves better than anyone else, which means we know all of our flaws and imperfections. We also buy into the belief that our shortcomings are unique -- because we don't know others as intimately as we know ourselves, so we convince ourselves that we're abnormal in the ways we fail, when the reality is that everyone is often failing in the same ways. We don't come close to extending the same grace towards ourselves that we extend towards others.
Fortunately, God takes a far more gracious view towards us than we take towards ourselves. When our hearts are ready to condemn us, John tells us, God is more powerful than our own voices and hearts, and speaks a word of grace, reminding us that we have been claimed by the Almighty God and marked as Christ's own forever. God abides in us, not running from our failures, but embracing us in grace and in love.
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