God Has Forgiven The Inexcusable In Us!

"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you." C.S. Lewis

This is one of my favorite quotes. It certainly smacks you in the face if you've been judgmental of others, but I like to look at it with a different twist: If God has forgiven the inexcusable in me, then perhaps I should also forgive myself. Or, to put it another way, ask God to forgive me and BELIEVE that He has AND ACT LIKE HE HAS. We are all so good at beating ourselves up. And holding onto our sin, our mistakes, rather than remembering what God has to say about it: "For I have removed your sin as far as the east is from the west" Psalm 103:12.

So why do we continue to condemn ourselves? Bad habits. And, frankly the Evil One is happy to use condemnation to keep us down, ineffectual, and sad beyond words...heartbroken. This isn't to say we won't feel remorse when others are hurt due to our actions. But, remember: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1.

Without the grace of God we are all lost, living in despair and without hope. With Him we have lives that can be full of joy in the direst of circumstances, molded by love and filled with hope. Sometimes, even those of us who know God well, forget we are also known by Him -- held by His love and care, forgiven, whole and new in His Son. Bless you all today. I hope your burden is a bit lighter for reading this. Love you always! Libby

There's more to the Story

I have been leaving something important out of the story of my life. I just realized the omission today. I wrote a blog post on this subject for daily publication put out by the #Usguys Tribe on Twitter: Libbytalks Has a Secret. In it I talked about my bipolar disorder. I wanted to talk about my disorder because it is a big part of my life. My husband shares a lot of the credit for helping me manage so well -- he shoulders responsibilities when I can't and is very engaged is helping me recognize the changing signs and seasons of this disease.
I first discovered I had it while in my early twenties. If you go back to that post to help put things into perspective -- it hit before my son died. He was 9-1/2 months old. I became very hyper, couldn't sleep or focus, my thoughts began to race and I lost my appetite. This was my first manic episode. My doctors called it postpartum which I found hard to believe. They classified any manic episode occurring within the first year of childbirth to be postpartum. I can't really talk about all the details yet, but I will say this, my ex left before my son died and one of the big reasons he left was my diagnosis. My current husband Mike (32 years this July) knew what he was in for and embraced our marriage with positivity, joy and faith and has each day since. We have struggled with circumstances, but not with each other! We have fought this disease together each day as a team.

I know how fortunate I am to be managing so well. I am in my 50's and healthier than I've been in many years. I am stable on the meds and vitamins I take. Did you know Fish Oil was also good for mood? I am feeling good. The only glitch is I am easing off a med right now which anyone with this disorder will tell you is one of the hardest things to do. Any kind of medication change is difficult though. But, I am very thankful that I have never felt tempted to zip through life without my meds! Mania frightens me. I don't consider it a pleasant high that I should skip meds to experience. Many people with bipolar do. It's a shame because it puts them on a roller coaster. I don't want a ride, I want a life! I love having one. Time for the Lord, for family and friends --and good hard work! Also, I need time to spend on Twitter with a whole bunch of other fabulous friends.

I'm glad I'm sharing about this. Hopefully it will be of some help to someone. I am here, let's chat! @libbytalks on Twitter, Libby Baker Sweiger on Facebook.