Preachers, pastors, and ministers often say grace. But what does grace mean? Is it something you can give yourself, or do you need to wait to receive it from someone else? This article will help you understand grace better so that next time someone says it during a sermon or talk; you’ll know exactly what they’re talking about.
What Is Grace?
Grace is defined as the “unmerited favor of God.” That means that even though we deserve judgment because of our mistakes, he gives us mercy instead. It’s not getting out of breaking the rules; it’s being able to keep the rules even though we’ve broken them in the past. Not many other people could get away with what we’ve done, but because of His grace, we can. It’s like getting caught by the police speeding down the road, and instead of getting a ticket or even jail time, you get let go with only one warning.
How Can We Have More Grace?
Today whenever someone catches you doing something that would usually get you into trouble, instead of yelling at you or making things even worse, what if they were kind and friendly to you? What if they didn’t make a big deal out of your mistake but helped you learn how to do better next time? If people treated us like this all the time, we’d probably treat them in the same way.
This is how God treats us–with lots of grace! And when we’re friendly back toward others who are friendly toward us, we’ll have more grace for ourselves. Since everyone makes mistakes sometimes, having lots of grace will come in handy when you inevitably bungle up the next thing you do.
5 Ways To Give Yourself The Gift Of Grace
1. Remember, you are not perfect
First of all, let’s be honest: NO ONE is perfect. We all have the quirks that we wish we could fix or might take for what they are and love ourselves for who we are right now because it’s really about progress and growth, not perfectionism (that’s just an unattainable myth). So please forgive yourself for the times when you fall off your expectations; no one has it all together. And that’s okay.
2. Stop being so critical!
When we’re too hard on ourselves, it can create tension and stress in our lives. Think about how you feel after a long day or week of beating yourself up for something. You probably don’t feel great, do you? From a very young age, we’ve been told to be tough on ourselves when needed, but maybe it’s doing more harm than good…
3. You can do hard things
But don’t push yourself too far… Just because we CAN doesn’t always mean that we SHOULD! Sometimes going further than what is comfortable comes with the territory of growth and progress, and that’s okay, but we can be too hard on ourselves and end up crashing and burning. Balance is key. So listen to your body and mind when they say, “Whoa! I need you to stop!”
4. Be kind to yourself, especially when you screw up
No one in this world has it all figured out, so there will be times when you slip up somewhere along the way. And that’s alright because life is really about HOW we handle those slips rather than if there are any! Don’t beat yourself up over mistakes or let self-doubt get in the way of making progress towards your goals. We’ve all been there before, so why not give yourself some grace instead?
5. Give yourself some grace
Whatever you do, be gentle with yourself! You are your own best friend and cheerleader, so remember, always support yourself! Shoot, even treat yourself every once because YOU DESERVE IT! Life is much more enjoyable that way–and isn’t that what it’s all about? Love that you are today because that person is worth celebrating! And if anyone ever tells you otherwise, screw them! They don’t know your journey or how hard you’re trying to make things work for you.
6 Ways to give yourself-grace
The following 6 tips are some of the best ways to give yourself grace that we could find. Some might even consider them to be life changers. But what do you think? Are they good enough for you?
Give yourself grace Tip #1: Permit yourself to take it slow
The first tip is something that we don’t hear very often, yet it has the potential to make a significant impact on your life. We’re talking about gracefully lowering your expectations. While this tip is probably the most challenging to follow, it’s also one of the most rewarding.
So how does it work? Well, you decide that you’ll give yourself a break and be more realistic with what you can achieve. You might be thinking, ” Well, yeah, but I don’t want to get complacent either. If I just give up everything, I’ll have nothing”.
This is a great point and one that we can understand. However, the main problem with setting unrealistic expectations is that you will be much less likely to follow through when things get tough (you’ve probably experienced this before).
That’s why it pays to be realistic about what you can achieve. It means that you’ll have a much better chance of keeping your head up when things get challenging instead of letting them drag you down.
Give yourself grace Tip #2: Make peace with the past
While this tip might not come naturally, it’s very powerful once you understand how to put it into practice. By making peace with the past, we’re referring to forgiving yourself for your previous mistakes and indiscretions (this is important). Because when you don’t forgive yourself for what’s happened in the past, you end up carrying that burden with you (and let me tell you, that’s not fun).
So how can you do this? We recommend that you sit down and carefully reflect on the things that happened in your past that you regret. Think about why they happened and if there was anything you could have done to prevent them from happening. If so, think about how different your life would be if you had made a different decision.
After doing this, we recommend that you write down what happened and how it made you feel. Then try to understand why it was necessary for your personal growth and development (cliché, yes, we know). And finally, offer yourself forgiveness. By forgiving yourself, we’re not saying that the things that happened in your past were okay, but that you’re choosing to move on.
Give yourself grace Tip #3: Tell yourself that you’re enough
If this sounds like an odd tip, let us explain. The secret to giving yourself grace is by reminding yourself that you are enough, just the way you are (we hope you can see the irony here). You don’t need to be a certain weight or have a perfect body to feel good about yourself.
Because guess what? Even if you achieve everything you want, there would still be something else you’d want to achieve (no matter how much success you had). And this means that no matter how much you achieve (or how far you go), you’ll never feel as though you’re enough.
So what can you do about this? Firstly, we recommend that instead of trying to be the best version of yourself, try to be the most authentic version of yourself. Because when you’re being your genuine self, you’re giving yourself the freedom to be who you are without trying to live up to some expectation.
This is important because it means that no matter what you’re doing in life, at the end of it all, you’ll be able to look back and say, “you know what? Even though I made a lot of mistakes here are there, I’m still happy with who I am as a person”.
So why is this important when it comes to giving yourself grace? Well, the truth is when you’re at peace with who you are, then any mistakes that you make in life just become part of your journey. And that means that they don’t have the power to hold you back or bring you down.
Give yourself grace. Tip #4: Allow yourself to be imperfect
This is another great tip because it highlights how important it is to learn to be comfortable in your skin. Because if you’re so busy trying to be perfect that any time you make a mistake, it just brings you down, you’re going to miss out on many opportunities for personal growth.
Because let’s face it, we all make mistakes now and then (and that’s okay). And what you need to understand is that these things aren’t just going to hold you back. If anything, they will help you learn and grow as a person.
And if that doesn’t convince you, then we recommend that you think about the fact that no one in this world has achieved perfection. Even if they say they have, chances are there’s always going to be something else that they’re not happy with about themselves (and no matter how hard you try, you’ll never be able to change that).
So why is this important when it comes to giving yourself grace? Well, when you’re not afraid of making mistakes, you don’t need all the bells and whistles (you know what we mean; likes, friends, etc.) to make you feel good about who you are. All it takes to feel great about yourself is a genuine smile.
Give yourself grace. Tip #5: Learn to love yourself
Another trendy tip that we always recommend that you follow is learning to love who you are as a person. But how can you do this? Firstly, we recommend that you take the time out of your day to do something for yourself.
So what exactly does this mean? Well, it doesn’t matter if you’re going to the gym, having a shower, or reading a book; we recommend that you do something that makes you feel good and is for your enjoyment (honestly, we don’t care what it is). So with this in mind, why is this important when it comes to giving yourself grace? Well, for this one, we will have to give you a bit more detail.
And when we say about learning to love yourself, we mean that you need to learn how to appreciate who you are as a person. Now for you to do this, there’s something that you’re going to need to do (and that forgive yourself for all of your mistakes).
Remember that the only reason why this is important is that people hold onto their past mistakes for far too long. And when they do, it just means that they can’t enjoy themselves in the present moment. But don’t worry; if you want to learn how to stop holding onto your past mistakes, all you need to do is take some time out of your day and try some of these tips.
Give yourself grace. Tip #6: Treat everyone equally
Another trendy tip that we want to mention when giving yourself grace is treating everyone equally. And while this might seem simple, it’s pretty effective.
So why is this so important when it comes to giving yourself grace? Well, the truth is that there will always be people who will try and bring you down over everything that you do. But what we’re trying to say here is that you need to learn how not to let these people get to you.
So how are you supposed to do this? The first thing that we recommend is learning how to differentiate between constructive criticism and abusive behavior. Because when someone tries to bring you down, it’s not always going to be through abuse (most of the time, it’s going to be through helpful advice).
So with this in mind, why is this important when it comes to giving yourself grace? Well, for this one, we recommend that you learn how to give constructive criticism rather than abuse. Because the truth is that there are always going to be people out there who will try and bring you down. But what matters most is how you react to it.
In conclusion,
When you’re not afraid of making mistakes, you don’t need to depend on all the likes and friends to make yourself feel good about who you are. And when it comes to giving yourself grace, give yourself some time out of your day to do something for yourself (remember that whatever it is, it’s something that makes you feel good).
So with this in mind, what are you waiting for? There are thousands of different ways for you to treat yourself. So why not give them a try today and see how good it makes you feel about yourself.
