Preaching the Gospel to Yourself
“Preach the Gospel to yourself.” I first heard this phrase a couple of years ago and it caught my fancy and took me on a journey of self-discovery. The gospel is that God made us for a relationship with Him. His love is so amazing that He allowed it to overflow into creating people to love because He IS love.
Relationship with Him is the highest honor, the best thing we could ever have in our lives.
We turn away from God on a regular basis, but out of His great mercy and love God reached out to enfold us into His community through the life and death of Jesus. Unfortunately however, I often hear this good news and am not awed by it. If I were to simply repeat the gospel message to myself daily, it would become rote and boring to me. How then do I preach the gospel to myself so that I make it central in my life and live it continually?
The first step to preaching the gospel to yourself is to pay attention to your emotions.
A few years ago my son was struggling in school and I was feeling angry and defeated, a powerful reminder to pay attention. I cried with God and asked Him what He was doing and what the gospel said to me in that situation.
Next, wait in silence with God.
I reminded myself of what I know of the gospel: that God created me and loves me with the same love with which He loves Jesus, not because of my accomplishments but because of His goodness. I wasn’t required to make my son get good grades for God to be pleased with me. Micah 6:8 reminded me that what God does require of me is “to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with my God.” I turned away from my desire for life to be easy and to look good to others and accepted God’s grace to live in His love and let that be enough. That was preaching the gospel to myself.
Another time I preached the gospel to myself was when I found myself happily ruminating on something I had done well and how I had pleased someone else. A Scripture from Galatians 1:10 came to mind. It says “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
See if any Scriptures come to mind.
So I preached the gospel to myself again. I remembered that I am made in God’s image and it’s okay to delight in using the gifts He has given me. I also am in constant need of God’s grace as my delight in Him so quickly turns to pride. So I asked God to use me and my gifts for His glory, but recommitted my life to being about Him and not me.
Lastly, an interaction with someone who made me the brunt of their angry emotions had me feeling emotionally bruised, so I asked God what the gospel said to me in those feelings. Immediately I saw that Jesus Himself was physically and emotionally battered and bruised. His flesh was torn. He took on infinitely more pain than I will ever know so that He could redeem the world and offer all of us His grace. Walking with Him can enable me to entrust myself to Him in hurtful conversations while maintaining my own appropriate boundaries.
The gospel brought grace to me and called me to give grace to others.
What emotions have been recurring for you lately? Sit or walk in silence for a few minutes.
Do any Scriptures come to mind for you as you talk to God about these emotions?
Ask God what He wants you to know through your emotions. What does the gospel say to you in your circumstances?