Affirmations

Sometimes it's easy to forget what's true.

The lies that precede self-injury can be hard to counter, but God's truth is stronger. In Psalm 40:11, the psalmist prays, "Do not withhold your mercy from me, O Lord; may your love and your truth always protect me." May God's truth protect you as you think about his awesome love.

This page was written with a Christian audience in mind. If you're not a Christian, some of these statements may not apply to you. Want to know more about Christianity? Click here.

God loves me with an unfailing, everlasting love. This will never change, no matter what I do or have done. That doesn't give me the right to do things that are wrong, but it means that they can't hold me down. (Psalm 51:1; Psalm 136:26; Romans 6:1-18)

Jesus Christ has done everything needed to "take care of" any bad things I've done, like the ones mentioned above. When he allowed himself to be beaten, mocked, put through pain, nailed to a cross to die, and most of all when God his Father turned away from him though he had done nothing wrong, he paid the penalty for whatever I have done and may still do. (Isaiah 53:4-6; Mark 15:34; Romans 3:21-26; Romans 5:6-11; 1 Peter 2:24-25)

Jesus Christ let himself be forsaken so that I do not have to be. This means that God is with me all the time. (Psalm 118:5-7; Isaiah 53; Mark 15:34; Hebrews 13:5-6)

Jesus Christ is the embodiment of love. He is patient and kind; he is not easily angered; he is merciful to us; and he died for us even while we were his enemies. Nothing can separate me from his love. (1 Corinthians 13; Romans 5:8; Romans 8:35-39)

The Holy Spirit lives within me, so I am to take good care of my body, since it really belongs to the Lord. It is okay to be kind to myself when I am upset and to take time to keep myself in good condition so that I can be better able to serve God. (Psalm 100:3; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:18-20; Ephesians 5:15-18)

When I realize I've done something that is wrong, I should acknowledge it to God, relying on Christ's sacrifice on the cross for my forgiveness. This means I don't ever have to punish myself for what I have done, because it is already taken care of. (Psalm 103:8-12; Psalm 130:3-8; Jeremiah 31:34; Acts 10:43; Romans 5:18-19; Hebrews 10:18; 1 John 1:9)

It is God who created me, God who made me righteous by my acceptance of what Christ has done, and God who is making me holy day by day. It doesn't matter if I think I'm awful, because God, who has begun his work of salvation in me, will be faithful to complete it. (Genesis 1:27; Leviticus 20:7-8; Romans 3:21-26; Philippians 1:6; Hebrews 10:14)

When I became a Christian, I became a new being in Christ. I am not just trying to do better with the same materials as before; I now have the very life of Christ within me, in the person of the Holy Spirit, which enables me to live in a different way. (John 3:3; Romans 6:3-14; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 4:22-24)


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