You’ve heard it said that we are our own worst critics. Sometimes Christians fall into the trap of trying to be perfect, even though we know intellectually that He is made perfect in our weakness. The struggle is real, says Dr. Ray Self on this episode of Self Talk on the Charisma Podcast Network.
The struggle comes when we try to reconcile who we think we should be with who we are in real life. Dr. Self says, “in other words, a struggle between this model Christian I was taught, and then what I’m actually experiencing every day.”
“Many years ago … I was walking around this lake. And I kept thinking to myself, ‘I’ve just got to get it together.'”
Self says he heard a voice and noticed the Lord speaking to him. “I love you just as you are, but I’m not going to leave you as you are,” God told him.
Through this revelation from the Lord, Dr. Self went on to discover more about our Father’s heart for him. He found he struggled most with the idea of “loving yourself unconditionally, just as you are, even when you’re not living up to that biblical standard that we should all adhere to, and we should all strive for.
“I am saying unconditional love means exactly what it says: unconditional love,” says Self. But we don’t give it to ourselves because we’ve got this war because we’re not who we think we should be.”
If you struggle with accepting the love that God so freely gives you, be encouraged by this podcast today. {eoa}
Curt Landry 
Michael L. Brown 
Rabbi Eric Tokajer