How Combining Radical Acceptance and Eternal Perspectives Might Help Your Soul

I gritted my teeth as I paced the floors with a crying baby on my hip. My mind began to spin like an old record player at high speed. I’m tired, I’m sore, my back hurts. I just want this baby to stop crying. Why is he crying so much? Why can’t he give me a break? I can’t handle this much longer. Why doesn’t he ever just let me sit? My arms ache. My back is killing me. I’m an unfit mother. How will I be able to keep doing this? This is too overstimulating for me. I—

These kinds of spiraling thoughts invade my mind in trying situations. I rarely look at difficulties simply for what they are. I often go straight to unkind judgments on myself. I even go as far as making assumptions of those around me and what they’re thinking about me. I get so entangled in these false narratives that I further depress myself and boil up unnecessary anxieties.

I doubt I’m the only one who does this. Do you ever find yourself fighting to accept reality for what it is? Rather than dealing with the grief of the situation, instead you project unnecessary judgments about yourself, your situation, or others? In doing this it may appear as if we’re facing our suffering, but we’re actually avoiding it. To help us better cope with our suffering, therapists have created a coping skill known as radical acceptance. As believers, we can use radical acceptance paired with our hope in Christ to help us through our suffering.

Continue reading at Gospel-Centered Discipleship.