Overcoming self-condemnation
March 19, 2026
Last Wednesday, I believe we are about to start a new series next Wednesday on Proverbs, the book of Proverbs, a book of wisdom, and I’m excited about that. But tonight we’re just going to kind of do a different deal. I thought the Lord had us talk about this. This is so very important because all of us go through it from time to time: overcoming self-condemnation.
Now, we’re all prone to it. I would venture to say some may disagree, because as soon as I say this, I think of a lot of men—all men battle this somewhat. But maybe ladies get shot at more in this area than men. They say—whoever they are, who knows—but they say there is some truth to this. They are right a little bit on this one here. They’ll say if there’s a problem, men tend to blame others. Come on, men! If there’s a problem—Brother Bill is like, “I heard that over there”—if there’s a problem, they say women are more prone to blame themselves. Interesting. So maybe ladies might be a little bit more susceptible to this than men, but we all battle this thing, all of us do, of self-condemnation and overcoming self-condemnation.
We’re just going to look at one verse, and we’ll pray and talk a bit. Then we’ll kind of study this verse out a little bit at the end. Psalms 139 is a great chapter. We won’t read the whole chapter. Man, what a chapter! It’s a good one. If you battle this, this whole chapter will be good for it, but we’re just going to try to narrow it down to one verse here: Psalm 139, verse number 14, a very familiar passage, a good passage.
I see Christian coming in back there. Pray Lord, Lord, you used Christian to lead some of the Lord on Saturday. That was exciting. And praise the Lord for that. My wife, too, just a good day. So praise the Lord for that. Psalm 139. Would you look down to verse number 14? Let’s stand if you would, please.
Psalm 139, verse number 14. By the way, praise the Lord, you’re right where God wants you on Wednesday, right where He wants you to be. I think about Ernie and Linda, and they’ve been a blessing. I won’t say anything about shoes or anything—I wouldn’t do it. But the way they came to our church—honestly, what I was going to say—the way they came to church, they said they were looking for a church that was open on Wednesday. It’s hard to find. It is hard to find. I would say this: shame on the preacher for closing. A lot of times the preacher closes because nobody shows up. That’s honest truth. So thank you all for being here. Thank you for being right in the spot where God wants you on a Wednesday night. And praise the Lord for just faithful people. You’re awesome. Praise the Lord for it. Psalm 139. Look at verse number 14.
He says, “I will”—this is David, by the way; God used David’s dependence. “I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knows right well.” Would you read that verse out loud with me tonight real quickly? Here we go: “I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.”
Would you pray with me that God would speak to hearts about this? Saying, “Father, Lord, would You give us more strength, Father, more power to overcome, more ammunition, Lord, in this battle of overcoming self-condemnation? Lord, expose the devil, defeat the devil, bring victory to Your people. And we’ll thank You for what You do. And we ask for this in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.”
Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated. A lot of people battle this. You could call it self-esteem. You could call it confidence. The Bible says, “In the fear of the Lord, a strong confidence.”
You can call it a lot of different names, but it’s just negative thinking about themselves, feelings of being inadequate to be what God intends. You’ve got young people, teenagers that are just trying to be—especially in our day and time, looks are so important. You’ve got these teenage girls trying to look like the most beautiful in all the world. They feel like they’re competing, and there’s so much self-condemnation in all of that.
This is interesting. I mentioned this before, but they did a study of supermodels. I’m talking about these ladies that are making hundreds of thousands of dollars for their looks—these supermodels. They asked them to grade themselves, the looks of themselves. On a scale of one (lowest) to ten (highest), how do you think your looks are? These supermodels, getting paid thousands and thousands of dollars for their looks, had an average response of a seven.
I’m just saying, this self-condemnation comes in a lot of forms and fashions, this thing of just being down on ourselves and condemning ourselves. It’s a real thing. And the devil loves to play on that. Man, he loves it. If he can get you doing it to yourself, he thinks, “I don’t have to do it.” By the way, one of the titles of the devil in Revelation 12 is that he is the accuser of our brethren. If he gets you accusing yourself, well, his job is done. He’s good at it.
Look over in James 4. This is an interesting little truth here. If you get just this inner turmoil of us putting ourselves down and just self-condemnation—we’ve got these inner problems—then you’ll have relationship problems. That’s what it’s saying over here in James 4, verse number one. Sometimes we rush through this verse to get down to, “You have not because you ask not,” but look at the thing here: James 4, look at verse number one. He says, “From whence come wars and fightings among you?” That’s a group of people fighting against a group of people. We’ve got that going on in the world today. And fighting, that’s one individual against another. Fighting’s among you. He’s not necessarily talking about world wars, but he’s talking about just fighting. By the way, cliques—this clique and this clique—cliques are so horrible for a church. They can really just hinder the Spirit working in church and cause division. But you get all these cliques, these wars, and these fightings: “From whence come wars and fightings among you?” That can be a marriage, you know, fightings among you. He said, where does all this come from? “Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?” It’s these inner problems. You have relationship problems out here because inside, you have problems on the inside of you. One of those can be self-condemnation. If you have someone who’s got a major problem in that area, they’re going to have a major problem with relationships. And it’s a real battle Satan loves.
It’s a real thing. You know over in 1 John, it says, “For if our heart condemn us.” That’s a little phrase in 1 John 3. Our heart can condemn us; it’s a biblical thing. Now, the rest of that says, “God is greater.” But it’s a real thing. Satan really just tries to… I don’t know how much it is anymore, but it’s somewhat like hardware and software in a computer. Satan’s always trying to upload his software: self-condemnation. If he gets you going with that programming in your mind and your psyche, it’s pretty much got you a defeated, discouraged, depressed Christian. And he works at that.
In this battle, we’re just talking for a bit; we’ll get to Psalm 139:14. In this battle, there are some key people that Satan tries to use, okay? He uses them in this battle of your thoughts about yourself. Satan likes to use people close to you. Remember when Jesus said, “Get thee behind me, Satan”? Who was He talking to? Peter, one of His 12 apostles, one of the inner three, one of the closest human beings to Jesus here on earth. Satan likes to work through people that are close to you because they can get in your heart.
When we talk about this, especially when children are young and growing up, they are so very moldable and impressionable. Parents are just key in that. Children—this is in Proverbs 17:6, there’s a little phrase. Let me just read it: “The glory of children are their fathers.” Children think Dad can do anything. It was a sad day when my children began to figure out that Dad can’t do everything. Well, I knew that a long time ago! But they just think that, and they are very impressionable to Dad because, naturally, Dad is their hero. What you say to your children, or what’s been said to children by their dads, is just key.
Because that’s their hero, and for the hero to say something is so powerful in this play of self-condemnation. If you are more prone to it than the average, it is very, very important. Moms are strategic. They say the first sound a baby hears is the heartbeat of the mom. That’s the first thing a baby can hear. I don’t know; I’ve read it before. Someone said that by the time the child is a normal delivery, nine months old, that baby has heard the mom’s heartbeat millions or billions of times. Of course, it knows Mom’s voice. A normal man knows Dad’s voice by the time they’re born. They are just so impressionable. They’re born with a natural bond to Mom. That is so very, very important. They say a baby, by the time it’s one year old, knows if it identifies itself as a boy or girl. So if there’s a boy, he thinks, “I know that’s what I’m supposed to be like one day,” subconsciously, of course. And a girl, you know, with a mom. I’m just saying how impressionable they are in this battle of self-condemnation regarding your childhood. It’s just key. Parents are those that raise you; they’re always giving you a name. Of course, I gave you a name, but it was more than just a name. They’re giving you a tag. “Well, they’re kind of a little dumb.” Man, you realize how that will stick with the child. “Well, they’re lazy.” Yes, discipline your children. We discipline, but don’t be so careful about putting a tag on your child. They are very impressionable with those things.
Be so very careful with this thing. Satan loves to use people and anything he can to put a negative tag on you and get you into self-condemnation. I’ve told this story before. Years ago, I was on Christian Radio around Father’s Day. Two men were on there. One man said his dad, every day when he came home from work, would play a little baseball. He said Dad was good. If they were playing catch, and Dad would throw the ball to him, and he would accidentally throw it over Dad’s head, instead of saying, “Well, you’re thinking, kid, I got to run now,” Dad said, “Man, you got an arm! Wow, what an arm!” And he said, Dad threw the ball to him, and he tried to catch it, and it hit him in the head. Dad said, “Man, you’re willing to risk yourself! You got in front of that ball. Good stop, boy!” He said, Dad pitched to him, and he’d swing, missing by a mile. He said, “Wow, what a swing! If you’d hit that ball, it would be out of the park.” That man played for the Texas Rangers; he’s a professional baseball player.
The other man said, “My dad told me I’d never amount to two cents, that I’m going to end up a criminal, I’m going to end up in jail,” always telling him he was worthless and not good for anything. And he had gotten saved in jail, getting his life straight. Just the power of that! This thing of self-condemnation is so real, and Satan uses these different angles. Here’s the wonderful thing about it: when you get saved…
Look over, if you will, in Matthew 23. You’ll know this verse or the truth of it. It does have to do spiritually regarding churches and all that, and there are some religions that are so wrong in what they do in this. But there’s more to it, I think, than just that. Matthew 23, look at verse number 9 in God’s Word. Matthew 23:9, you’re there? Amen? Look at this verse here. He says, “And call no man your father upon the earth; for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” You’re talking about spiritually.
Here’s the thing: God said when you get saved, you become my child. And God begins to put a name or a tag on you. That is such a sacred relationship to the Lord. The Lord says, “I don’t want you…” By the Catholic Church that calls this guy “Father”—I say, uh-uh, that’s against the Bible. That’s not right. But God is saying that relationship—that’s my daughter, that’s my son. God says that’s so sacred and special to me, don’t you call anybody else Father. That belongs to God. That’s why He sends His Spirit inside of us. His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are called the sons of God. He’s sending His Spirit to reaffirm in your heart: You’re my son, you’re my daughter. God is giving you a name.
Really, there is a battle. It’s a battle between the devil—and all the people and things he uses to try to put this negative tag on you, sometimes that’s our own self-condemnation—but it’s this battle between the devil and the Spirit of God, who through His Word is trying to give you His tag, and He is your Dad. When you get saved, you are born again, and you are regenerated. You have the Spirit of God living inside you now, and His royal blood is flowing through your veins.
That’s why if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. God begins this reform and rewiring your brain from what the devil, the world, and ourselves put in there. God says, “I want My voice, My Spirit, speaking to you and giving you a name.”
There’s this battle. One of our men years ago was somewhere, and I love this story—I hope he doesn’t mind me telling it. He was petting a horse and said, “Man, that’s a beautiful horse. Horses are strong and beautiful.” I know one preacher said he doesn’t know about coming back, you know, we’re going to be riding on white horses following Jesus. He said, “Man, horses—men, horses don’t get along,” you know. Someone told him, “Well, you got to tell the horse who’s in control, who’s the boss.” The preacher said, “I don’t know whose boss that horse is; the horse is the boss, not me.” Some people like them; some people don’t, but they are beautiful animals. This man was just over there with a horse, noting how beautiful it was. He said the Spirit of God just spoke to him and said, “Hey, that’s what I think of you.” I like that. He was beginning to hear the voice of God. The voice of God is special; it’s from the Lord.
Now let’s look just briefly. We just kind of rambled a little bit. Preachers are good at that, amen. Don’t say amen to that right there. Come on now. Look at verse number 14, would you please? Psalm 139. Look in verse number 14 right there. Psalm 139. Let’s very quickly go through this verse. He starts off that first four words: “I will praise.” What’s the next word? Who is “thee” talking about? God. Here is the key in this battle about self-condemnation. This battle really starts with getting—look right, everybody look right here—here is the key: getting your eyes off of Paul and getting your eyes on the Lord. That is so key.
That can be tough to do because you feel like you’re about to drown, you’re battling, and you’re focused on self-care type things. But that’s key. I’ve said there so many times over the years—some of you can probably say it much better than I now—but if you keep your eyes on yourself, it’s going to lead to one of two things: it will either lead to pride or pity. Always. Having your eyes on yourself, just focused on yourself, with the Lord not in the picture, is going to lead to pride or pity. What does it say over there in Isaiah 26:3? “That will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.”
We’re going to get to this a little bit. You can think about yourself somewhat as long as God’s in the picture, but this whole verse really centers around the Lord. Let’s go back and look at this whole thing. We haven’t read the whole thing since we prayed. He says, “I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully what?” Made. This is the Maker. “Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knows right well.” I’m saying the center of this verse is God: “You made me; I’m fearfully, wonderfully made.” You know what you are doing. It is key that we get our hearts and our minds on the Lord. I mentioned that verse earlier, 1 John 3:20: “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.”
By the way, I think David had to work at this thing. I really do. I think it’s one reason why God chose David to pen these words. That last part makes me think David had battled it and been working at this thing because that last part, he said, “That my soul knows right well.” I think David said, “I’ve been thinking on that. I know that. I’ve been working at this thing.”
Take David when he was just a young boy. The prophet Samuel came to Jesse’s house and said, “Hey, are all your boys here?” If you read that closely—I don’t know if I’d die on that hill fighting over there, but if you go back and read it—it looks like Samuel went around all the boys twice. And he said, “No, no, no.” He went back again. Finally, he had to turn to Dad and say, “Dad, is this all your boys?” Think about how you would feel if the prophet was there to anoint someone to be king, and Dad wouldn’t call you out. For whatever reason, Dad just left you out. And the preacher had to say, “Well, we’re not going to eat until you call that other boy.” How would you feel if your dad treated you like that?
By the way, we’ve already talked about how important your dad is in this thought process. I heard a man recently say that the majority of men he’s dealt with who have pornography issues have had dad issues. All this affects you so much, including self-condemnation. Anyway, David also had a women problem; we know that by Bathsheba. So you have that glimpse into something there. Dad wasn’t even thinking about him when Samuel was there to find someone to be king. A little later on, David kills Goliath, or is willing to fight Goliath at this point, and his oldest brother says, “You dirty rag and stinking rat!” Now, brothers are brothers, but that was overly excessive. “I know the wickedness and the naughtiness of your heart.” Usually, when there’s an outside force, brothers and sisters come together; we fight with each other, but don’t mess with us. But with Goliath there, they didn’t form an alliance. Eliab is like, “Man, I know what’s going on in your heart. You’re just a little runt.” And on and on. I think David battled it, not just from parents, but our own heart condemns us. David here, I think, was working at it, and God had taught him some things. That last part of that verse, he said, “Those things are dismissed; that my soul knows right well. I’ve been working this thing.”
But it starts off, this verse starts off, “I will praise thee.” All right. Getting our eyes, our mind on the Lord. Something else about those first four words: He says, “I will,” what’s the next word? “Praise thee.” Typically, a self-condemning Christian is not a praising Christian. There are so many health benefits. You talk about food—if you eat this food in our day and time, there are so many health benefits. If you want to eat it, you can find someone somewhere along the line who says it’s an antioxidant. You understand what I’m talking about? Anybody want to say chocolate is an antioxidant? Come on, chocolate sundaes from Dairy Queen on the way out. Okay, that sounds pretty good. That’s my wife, and my wife has this card where you can get Blizzards for half off. Man, that has hurt my diet program very much. We went to a Dairy Queen out of Murphysboro, and I pulled it out, and he said, “Sir, that won’t work here.” I said, “Well, could you at least try it?” He did. It didn’t work. I said, “Well, thanks for trying that.”
But anyway, where were we at in all this? Oh, health benefits from praising the Lord. That is so true. It is such a healthy thing for a Christian to praise the Lord. By the way, look over in Isaiah 61. This is an interesting little phrase in the Bible. Isaiah 61 is talking about what Jesus came to do. He came from heaven down here to earth. Isaiah speaks of the promised Messiah coming, which Jesus fulfilled, of course. But I want you to see what he says about Isaiah 61. Look at a little phrase here: “I will praise thee.” Praise the Lord. We have that going on in Psalm 139:14. Isaiah 61:3. Are you there tonight? Amen? Look what it says: “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning.” Watch this: “The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.” Self-condemnation is kind of like a spirit of heaviness—defeated, depressed, discouraged. You’re tearing yourself apart. It’s kind of a spirit of heaviness. And he says it’s the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified. That caught my attention: the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
David, I think, was battling this thing about self-condemnation over Psalm 139. So many great verses are in there. He says, “I will praise thee.” It’s so important to praise. It’s so very, very important. Having proper thoughts about yourself with the Lord in the picture—not just you alone, what you are on your own, but with the Lord in the picture—it doesn’t lead you to pride. If it’s proper thinking about yourself, it leads you to praise. Praise the Lord. The end result shouldn’t be, “Oh, look at me! I’m the biggest, strongest, mightiest,” all the rest of that. No, the end of that should be, “Praise the Lord, He’s been good to me.” I don’t think I’m all that, but I think God has given me some things, and it’s the Lord. That mindset: “I will praise thee.” Thanksgiving is giving thanks for what He has done for you, the good things. But praise is giving thanks for what He is. You praise Him: “I will praise thee. You’re a mighty Creator. You’re a giving God. You’re a good God. I messed up a million times, but you really have given me so much, and you’ve given me some ability.” You know, Romans talks about thinking about your gifts, your spiritual gifts, soberly. Well, I don’t have anything God can ever use? No, God’s giving you something. But then don’t go, “Well, I’ve got everything.” No, you haven’t got everything. But whatever you got, praise God for it. “I will praise thee. I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Praise the Lord. It is such a great thing just to praise Him.
I’ve told this story before about a missionary in China years and years ago who got defeated, discouraged, depressed. He said, “I’m leaving. Nobody’s getting saved. I’m just tired of it.” He tried everything: prayed for months to overcome his weariness and prayed for victory. He visited with other missionaries, thinking maybe he needed fellowship with them, but he just tried everything; he was about to quit. Right before he did, he stayed in another missionary’s little ministry setup. He stayed in a room and tried to be alone with the Lord a lot. That room had a plaque on the wall with just two words: “Try Thanksgiving.” He said, “Well, I’ve tried everything else.” He started pretty close to praise and started giving thanks. He worked at that for a while, maybe a couple of days. They say he came out of the room and said, “I’m not quitting. I’m going back to my ministry. God called me to stay in there and finish it.” That is just a thought: “I will praise thee.” It is so very strength-giving in this battle of self-condemnation.
Notice what else he says here. Notice what else. Psalm 139, verse 14. He says, “I will praise thee.” What’s the next thing? This next little phrase, from “for” until “made.” Let’s read that out loud, would you please? Here we go: “For I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” What’s the next phrase, please? “Marvelous are thy works.”
Wow. Amen. Marvelous are the Lord’s works. If you could see yourself as God sees you—God calls you His child. You are His. God says, “That’s my daughter. I’m proud of her. I love her.” “That’s my son. That’s my boy down there.” You ever see some mom or dad whose child is performing well, getting on the honor roll, or doing a good job? Those parents are just beaming. That’s how God is with you. You’re His son, you’re His daughter. When he says, “Marvelous are thy works,” Lord, you didn’t make junk. You know what you’re doing. You wanted someone just like me. You say, “I’m a little odd.” Well, all of us are a little odd, first of all. Brother Gopher says amen to that. God wanted someone odd, just like you. I don’t want to repeat myself, but I do anyway. You’ve heard me give the illustration of the orchestra, with that guy up there leading the symphony. There are like 20 trumpets up there, 20 violins, and he’s saying, “Oh, that one over there, you’re off.” That one gives us a unique sound. None of the other instruments can give what that one does. That’s why you are to God. You can pray to Him like nobody else. You can praise Him like nobody else. You can sing to God like nobody else. You can love Him like nobody else. God wants to hear your unique sound and the gifts you have to give to Him. And He made you that way. His works are marvelous. “Marvelous are thy works.”
I like this verse: Psalm 56:9. It says, “When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.” Just think about that: God is for you. He’s for you. That’s what it says in Psalm 56:9. It’s right there in the Bible. He’s for you. He’s not waiting up in heaven with a bat, thinking, “Ah, you messed up. Boom!” No, He’s for you. If He saw us just for justice, none of us would have a chance, but He sees you if you are born again through the blood of Jesus. Man, He’s for you. You’re His son, you’re His daughter. He wants someone just like you. He loves you unconditionally. Once you’re saved, nothing can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Nothing. Remember, Jude says, “Keep yourselves in the love of God.” That doesn’t mean keep yourself lovely. He doesn’t love you because you’re lovely; He loves you because He is loving. It means you keep yourself where you understand and feel and comprehend how much He loves you. You have to work at that. The theme of the book of Jude is to earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. When you are fussing and fighting and trying to stand for the truth, you need times where you keep yourself in the love of God. You actually get cold and bitter, mean, and hard, but you keep yourself [reminded]: “Boy, God loves me. I’m about as messed up as it comes, but man, He wants me. He loves me. He likes me like I am.”
I wasn’t planning on telling this story, and I probably messed it all up, but about Tom Williams: he and his first wife—and I say first wife because all of his wives died; it wasn’t like he divorced, but his first wife died. Before she… I don’t know if I can get the timing right, but his first wife delivered a child. A lot of people know his second wife; she got very sick twice. But the first wife, not as much known about her, she delivered a child—I can’t remember if it was a boy or girl. A little bit after delivering, she died. That child had spina bifida or something along that line, and the head of that child began to swell. For a while, his wife was in one hospital across—I think it was in Dallas—and he’d have to travel back and forth to visit his child. He said it was a special love. Eventually, his wife passed, and he just clung to that child. He said, “You come to the room, and that child’s head was just…” For some, it might look like a monster, but he loved that child so much. He was just clinging to that child, this heart pouring out to that child. He said it seemed like the Spirit of God said, “Hey, that’s the way you are to me. We are as messed up as can be, but God loves us so much as we are.” God said, “Tom, the feelings you have for that child, those are My feelings I have for you.” And you start viewing yourself through God’s eyes, and you say, “Man, I’m fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works.”
Let me say this, and I’m going to be done real quickly here. Focus on His love in areas where you might have a deficiency. If you grew up where people called you ugly, maybe think about how beautiful you are to God. If you grew up where people didn’t really want you around and your presence wasn’t wanted, think about how He wants you around Him all the time. He wants to fellowship with you. He wants to labor with you; we are laborers together with God. If no one ever had time for you, maybe you need to focus on God. God’s got all the time in the world to be with you. He’s never too busy for you. He always wants to be with you. Focus on those things. Learn to get your needs met by the Lord. That’s a little art to it because everyone has unique needs. Whose words are you going to go back to? You’re going to go back to the words of the devil, our own heart sometimes, or you can go back to the Lord’s words? It’s very much about which voice we are listening to. Can I say this? The longer time we spend with the right programming software inside of us, the easier it is to forget the wrong programming. Typically, it’s going to be a battle.
Here’s another little key to it: On purpose, start thinking of the thoughts that God has toward you. On purpose. You’re in Psalm 139. Look in verse number 17. Psalm 139, looking at verse number 17.
What does he say there? Psalm 139, verse number 17. He said, “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God.” What kind of thoughts? Mean, hateful? No, precious thoughts. “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.” “When I awake, I am still with thee.” Brother Marlon preached a good message on that when the deacons were preaching. He thinks about you all the time. By the way, victory is not necessarily so much in getting rid of the negative thoughts. Over in Philippians, he says, “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, just, pure, lovely, or of a good report, think on these things.” He doesn’t tell you not to think of it; he says think on these things. So when you get God’s view in there, that chases away the negative. I’m not going to think about what so-and-so called me all my life—where you are already thinking about it—but you start thinking about God’s thoughts toward you, and that pushes those others out. “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” 1 John 4:19: “We love him, because he first loved us.”
They say that even with people having mental issues, often the root problem they really need is just one individual, especially growing up, from whom they receive unconditional love. When I think about God’s love to me, that doesn’t make me less of a Christian, wanting to go sin and do this. We had a man come to our church years ago who had been in a church that taught you could lose your salvation. I preached a message about how God loves you no matter what once you are saved, that you are always loved, and no matter what you do, God’s mercy is there. He came to me afterward and said, “Man, you’re going to cause people to do bad things wrong.” I said, “Brother, does understanding God loves you make you want to sin?” I said, “No.” It always makes me love Him more. You don’t get good, solid Christians by saying, “Well, He’s going to love you if you do this, but if you mess up here, boom.” You don’t get people willing to lay down their lives for the Lord that way. You get people who lay down their lives for the Lord because they know He laid down His life for them while they were yet sinners. The more you understand His love for you, the more you can love Him back. It’s healthy. “I will praise thee… fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knows right well.”
Would you bow your heads, close your eyes? Let’s just spend a little time with the Lord tonight. We’re going to have our instruments play. Let’s just spend some time. Whether it be at the altar, if He’s called you, come on down here; it’ll be a great place. But however He leads you, let’s spend some time thanking Him and understanding His love for you, and let’s love Him back tonight. Would you do that? Let’s stand, please. We’ll have a word of prayer, and let’s spend some very dear time with the Lord. Father, thank you that you give us the ammunition we need in this battle of self-condemnation. Father, help us to think more like David fought in this verse. Thank you for teaching us in it tonight. Bless your people, Lord, please. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Original File: 2026-03-19 - Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂His unconditional love＂ - Wednesday 03⧸18⧸2026