SERMON NOTES:

PRAYER REQUESTS
Pennie (Melanie Vosdinghs friend) as she goes through her second back surgery at the beginning of April. Gloria Ivers. Pray for healing of Glorias ankle. Janet (Kevin Amundsens sister) has an L3 fracture in her back. Pray for healing. Linda (Heather Butterfields sister) for safety for the baby during pregnancy, and to be close to the Lord. Pray for Ruthann Coburn as she recovers from a procedure for a serious wound on her leg. Kay Prouty (mother of Pastor Pauls brother-in-law) who has cancer. Sarah Womack (Nancy Amundsens daughter) as she searches for a new job. Beverly Dols (John Ivers sister) as she is in hospice care. Joanne Seeman Benick (Jon & Jodi Blacks friend) who has cancer. Steve Gast (Jennifer Huehns college friend) received new lungs six months ago for his Cystic Fibrosis. Pray for continued recovery. Julie Fjeld (Jennifer & Mike Huehns neighbor) who lives with cancer. John Thiessen as he lives with cancer. Donna McCullen (wife of Ken McCullen) who is suffering from cancer.

DEVOTION
Some people have a harder time forgiving themselves than forgiving others. When we do something that we know that is wrong, many times we carry that pain inside of us for a long time. We cant let go that we made a terrible mistake. Its important to forgive ourselves. Why would we do it? We do it because our self-forgiveness is a reflection of the Great Commandmentwhich youll read about on Monday. This week youll read about the relationship between self-forgiveness and Gods love. The message is important and can be life-changing. Enjoy! Comments about the devotion can be e-mailed to pastor@colpres.org. Monday, March 17 Read Matthew 22:34-40 The Great Commandment is found in verse 39, and also in Luke 10:27 and Mark 12:31. We know this commandment, but its easy to think that it is only Love your neighbor, and forget the love yourself part. The word as is the crucial pivot in this command. We forget that we are not called to love our neighbor in isolation or to love ourselves in isolation. We are called to love our neighbor with the same intensity as we love ourselves. Each informs the other Think about a teeter totter that is unbalanced. If our love goes more in the love of neighbor and not of love of neighbor we risk sacrificing our own needs for our neighbor. Of course, sacrifice can be healthy, but when we forget our own needs of love our love of neighbor wont be as strong. Similarly when we love ourselves and not our neighbor the teeter totter is again unbalanced. We run the risk of narcissism. Of course, loving ourselves can be healthy, but if our love of our self isnt balanced by our love of neighbor, then we are again unbalanced. The word as is the key part in this command. Pray to live out the as. It is the crucial balance. Prayer: Lord, I want to love my neighbor as I love myself. Help my love be appropriately balanced. I pray for the as.

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Tuesday, March 18 Read Leviticus 19:18 The Great Commandment can be traced all of the way back to the book of Leviticus. Most of us dont read the book of Leviticus often because the book shares all sorts of rules and regulations that seem very distant from our own life. This verse is found in a section of the book called the Holiness Code. Most of the time we think of Holiness as doing something. We are holy based on following a rule or a law or doing what God wants us to do. This verse turns this idea of holiness on its head. We are holy when we love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Its much easier to forgive ourselves when we have a healthy love of neighbor and love of self. We can forgive ourselves because we have a healthy respect for our own lives. This respect isnt prideful or self-centered. Instead its based on the love that God has given to us. Prayer: Lord, I want to be holy! Im willing to do the right thing, but help me see holiness as part of loving and respecting myself Wednesday, March 19 Read Genesis 1:26-27 Why would we love and forgive ourselves. One reason comes from this creation story. God created us in the image of God. Our own being is patterned after the divine. When we love ourselves we are doing more than just loving our self. We are also loving the Spirit of God who is within us. So loving ourselves is not an act of selfishness. Instead its an act of loving God who is within us. We arent taught to love ourselves because this is thought of as prideful and selfish. However God wants us to love ourselves; just as we are taught to love our neighbor. When we love the God who is within usloving our selfwe are loving God.

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Prayer: Help me see you inside of me. Help me love myself and ultimately forgive myself. Thursday, March 20 Read 1 John 4:7-12 These five verses share the powerful message about the origination of love. It comes from God! So when we love ourselves and are willing to forgive ourselves these actions are a reflection of our own love of God. If you keep reading this chapter youll read that when we love we have no fear. Sometimes we are afraid to love and forgive ourselves. We have been conditioned to think that it is better to punish ourselves for a wrong doing, then to let that pain go. Were afraid to let it go because we believe we are doing the wrong thing. But as we read, perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4:18) Do you have a hard time forgiving yourself for something that you have done? Can you let it go? Can you let the love that is inside of you take over the fear you might feel about forgiving yourself? Keep loving!! This will help remove your own pain. Prayer: Its not easy to forgive myself, Lord! Ive been conditioned to punish myself for when I mess up. Help me to know that perfect love casts out fear. Help me release! Friday, March 21 Read Galatians 5:13-15 In these verses Paul was again summing up the Great Commandment. He was sharing that the freedom we have been given in Christ should not let us hurt or devour another person. We could add to this verse that the freedom that we have should not allow us to hurt ourselves. It is okay to let go of the guilt or responsibility for something we have done in the past. We cant beat ourselves up for a long time because of a mistake we have made.

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Some people dont recover from a mistake or sin that they have committed. Hopefully this doesnt apply to us. Dont beat yourself up for something youve done. Let it go through your prayers! Prayer: Dont let me beat myself up for something Ive done in the past. Help me let it go! Saturday, March 22 Read Romans 5:1-5 These verses share the movement of God and make the case for forgiving ourselves. At the right time Jesus died for us. Because of his death Gods love has been poured into us. We have access to the grace of God. Because of this grace we are forgiven of our sins. If God can forgive us, then cant we forgive ourselves? Its amazing to remember that God is quicker to forgive us than we are to forgive ourselves. Why would we be harder on ourselves than God is on us? Prayer: Thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you that we have access to your grace because of the death of Jesus. May your grace be the movement for me to forgive myself of what Ive done wrong.