I used to feel dirty and unsexy and ugly but NO MORE.
I got clean.
Moving from the mud puddle to pristine waters was one of the very very very hardest changes I’ve ever made. And, of course, I needed help. Mr. Clean (aka Jesus) scrubbed me clean, one layer of dirt at a time.
I don’t remember how I slid in the mud puddle.
Maybe one too many steamy scenes from “Dark Shadows,” an old soap my mom watched as I toddled in diapers, did me in.
Or not.
Maybe I slid in the puddle when my older female cousin showed me her Playgirl magazine, like Playboy but for women. Strangely enticing and repulsive!
Or not.
But I do remember a time at age 14 that I said “No” but should have said “Yes” and another time at age 19 when I said “Yes” but should have said “No.”
Yes, no, no, yes. How confusing!
Confusion is just the state Satan wants you. Upside-down, inside-out, topsy-turvy thinking run amuk. Yuck!
Pause. . .I have free Think Well charts for the asking; email me at Lucy@LucyAnnMoll.com. . .Unpause.
I felt dirty even though I was a believer in the beautifully biblical sense of the word. Our Lord Jesus died for every one of my ugly choices, including my sexual sins, and his resurrection proved his victory over death.
He redeemed me and I still felt dirty.
God adopted me as his child and I still felt dirty.
He gave me every spiritual blessing is the heavenlies and I still felt dirty.
Why? Why did I cling to my grime like a lover?
Like many sex-stained women, I believed two lies straight from hell:
1) I was so far gone that even God couldn’t cleanse me, and
2) I wouldn’t be free until I forgave myself.
In the first case, I doubted God’s power. In the second, I thought too much of myself, my power, my pride.
Me,
me
and me.
Did you know that know verse in the Bible says, “Thou must forgive thyself”? Look. You won’t find it.
I know because I looked. And so I had a choice:
Believe the gospel according to Lucy and live a joyless life while Satan snickered.
Or accept Jesus’ gift of forgiveness for my dirty bad and live in clean victory.
I’m spotless. Thank you, Jesus.
Question: Do you want to shower in Jesus’ forgiveness too?
You Are Blessed!
P.S. As a trained biblical counselor, I offer a free 30-minute consultation (no obligation) to Christian or spiritually seeking women who have hurts. Email me at Lucy@LucyAnnMoll.com to find out if biblical counseling is for you. Request the free eReport “You Are Beautiful.”
Thankful for Jesus and the way He cleans the worst in me.
Thank you Jesus for saving me from myself.
Jesus is my guy. Yours too. Ain’t it great to have a love that isn’t jealous? A love you want to share with everyone?
Good stuff, Lucy.
Re: forgiving ourselves. What about the command to love others as we love ourselves? Loving ourselves seems like an implicit command there, doesn’t it? And isn’t forgiving the core of love?
And yet, I think I get your point, that we don’t have the power to forgive…and we must accept Jesus’ forgiveness. Is that what you’re saying?
I sure didn’t have the power to forgive my father sexual abuse, but it took me ten years of wrestling before I realized that. Only Jesus gave me that power. Yay!
Bless you. Looking forward to working with you more…
Karen
Karen,
Yes I agree it is implicit. The Bible writer assumes everyone cares for himself. You and I both know that nowadays many women have self-hatred. God says, “You are wonderfully made,” and we too often say stuff like, You got that wrong, God; I’m worthless. . .I wish I were never born.
I learned long ago by His grace that I have worth, that God tells the truth, and that I need to agree with him.