Bob Tuttle, Professor of Evangelism at Asbury Theological Seminary, once gave a sermon with an illustration that spoke of a student who had "inadvertantly condemned a part of himself to hell." At the time, it was very helpful to me because I realized I had done the same thing and found healing from that message through confession and prayer.
I'm amazed now how often I find this to be the case with people. I prayed with a woman the other day who, with one breath, said, "I believe Jesus died for me, to save me from my sins, but he can't really want to be with me; I'm a gutter woman." Do you see the issue here...why would someone die for a person whom they didn't want to be with? The new creation thing is right out the window.
The problem is that we often have trouble appropriating God's grace to the "worst" parts of ourselves. Self-condemnation makes the receiving of God's forgiveness impossible. David once said, "I know your desire is for your truth to reach my inmost being." God wants his unconditional love and sufficient grace to descend even into hell to reach those parts we've condemned, that they may be resurrected and given new life - and that we may be whole again.
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