ACIM Lesson 323 I gladly make the “sacrifice” of fear.
Here is the only “sacrifice” You ask of Your beloved Son; You ask him to give up all suffering, all sense of loss and sadness, all anxiety and doubt…
I gladly make the “sacrifice” of fear.
ACIM Lesson 323
I gladly make the “sacrifice” of fear.
1. Here is the only “sacrifice” You ask of Your beloved Son; You ask him to give up all suffering, all sense of loss and sadness, all anxiety and doubt, and freely let Your Love come streaming in to his awareness, healing him of pain, and giving him Your Own eternal joy. ²Such is the “sacrifice” You ask of me, and one I gladly make; the only “cost” of restoration of Your memory to me, for the salvation of the world.
2. And as we pay the debt we owe to truth,—a debt that merely is the letting go of self-deceptions and of images we worshipped falsely—truth returns to us in wholeness and in joy. ²We are deceived no longer. ³Love has now returned to our awareness. ⁴And we are at peace again, for fear has gone and only love remains.
We Misunderstand Our Own Best Interests
Again today, we are being asked to give up fear in all its forms. Accepting who we really are will rid of us all suffering. We will no longer be anxious or have pain. When we remember who we are we will return to our natural state of wholeness, peace, and love. Because we misunderstand our own best interests, Jesus has to reinforce the truth. He must emphasize that knowing who we are will not cost us anything that we want. Above all, he wants us to know that it is safe to return to our natural state.
How to Live in Joy
What do we have to do to live in joy? We only need to let go of the ego ideas we have believed for so long. I began with the belief that I am a victim and could be unfairly treated. I know now that this could never be true. So if it seems that I am being victimized, I turn inward and heal what I find there. Next, I became serious about giving up guilt. I also gave up the idea that pain is a necessary part of life, though I am still letting go of some of the beliefs that cause pain.
No Grievances
One belief that is gone is the belief that there is some value in holding grievances. If I notice the slightest desire to attack someone, I laugh it away. I cannot hold a grievance in my mind because that would destroy my peace and bind me to the world. The very idea of attack is contrary to my goal. I cannot return to God without my brothers, so why would I attack them. Therefore, I want for them what I want for myself, that they know their innocence. Why then, would I teach them they are guilty?
Guilt Is Just an Idea; Let it Go
The greatest benefit of letting go of guilt is that without guilt there is no belief in the need for punishment. Releasing the belief that my guilty past would always haunt me, and accepting forgiveness instead, changed everything. For one thing, my close relationships became more loving. I became happier and peaceful, and it impacted my desire to forgive. Once forgiven it becomes natural to extend forgiveness. Most importantly, without guilt what is there to fear from God?
I notice that I am not completely done with guilt yet. Sometimes I will feel guilt such as I did last night. I was eating some fudge when I noticed that old feeling of contraction. It is like I try to get smaller so my guilt is not seen, I suppose by God. However, guilt thoughts no longer have the same impact on me. I am quick to dismiss them. So, having noticed that feeling, I addressed it. I decided that if I was going to eat fudge, I was going to enjoy the heck out of it. Guilt is just an idea, and I decided to choose happiness instead.
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