Beating yourself up is a symptom of pride.
In the past, when I made a mistake I would tend to beat myself up about it. The length and severity of my “self-beating” would depend on how serious I perceived the mistake to be.
And let’s call it what it is – not a mistake, but a sin. A falling short of God’s standards.
I’d think to myself, “How could I have done such a thing? I’m supposed to be a Christian! I’m better than that, and I shouldn’t be doing such things! I’m so unworthy. I just can’t do anything right!” And so on and so forth.
Read back what I used to say to myself again. How many times did I use the term “I” or something similar to it?
Answer: a lot.
How could I have done such a thing? Well, because I’m only human, I’m not perfect and I’m still on a journey with Jesus. As long as I live and breath, I’ll never be perfect in and of myself, only in Christ.
It is a symptom of pride. Believing we are above sin or simple mistakes indicates that we have a proud heart.
Often we think that beating ourselves up is a humble thing to do – far from it. In fact, it is suggestive that we don’t think Christ’s punishment was enough, and that we somehow need to add to it.
If you sin this week, don’t spend any time beating yourself up. It’s a waste of time. Just accept Christ’s work and forgiveness and move on.
Andy Brown 