Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Have you ever laid in bedreplaying your day heart heavy
with guilt, your mind racing thethoughts like, why can't I get
it right?
Why do I keep messing up?
And it makes you feel bad.
It makes you feel like you are abad mom.
But what if you haven't fullyembraced what forgiveness really
means?
In today's episode, we'reunpacking what biblical
(00:22):
forgiveness actually looks like,and why is the foundation for
quieting the voice of mom guiltthat tries to keep you stuck?
This isn't about pretending yourmistakes don't matter.
It's about learning to releasethe disappointment and walk in
grace.
Even if guilt has followed youfor years, there's a way
forward.
Let's dive in.
(00:48):
.Hey mama.
Are you tired of the constantmom guilt and wondering if
you're really enough?
You know God has called you formore, but peace feels like it's
just out of reach.
I'm Caroline Thao, host of theRestore Mind, and I'm so glad
you're here.
This is your safe space totrade, overwhelmed for
confidence, guilt for grace, andstep into the freedom God has
(01:10):
for you.
Ready?
Let's do this.
If you're tired of carrying thatmom guilt and trying to do it
all alone, my free onlinecommunity is the perfect place
for you to start.
It's a grace filled space whereyou'll find encouragement and
(01:30):
practical tools to help youquiet the voice of mom guilt,
and begin being intentional inthe lives of your kids and also
in your business, or whereveryou'll want to show up.
In this community, we havechallenges and they're from time
to time, and we recently wrappedup our Grace over guilt
challenge and honestly was somuch fun.
(01:51):
It was a five day challengewith.
Simple ways for you to kick offsummer with your kids while
being intentional in yourbusiness and wherever you wanna
show up, which was amazingbecause it didn't require a lot
of work, so we didn't have toput a lot of effort into it
knowing that summer has kickedoff for us and we're just a
little bit busier than normal.
But also it was a great way forus to start building these small
(02:15):
habits That we could take withus all throughout summer to help
us feel like we're not fightingagainst our busy schedule, but
truly being intentional andliving in it.
So if you're ready to stopsurviving and to start thriving
in motherhood and in your work,come join us.
The link to join is in the shownotes.
(02:35):
Mama, I can't wait to see youthere, and I know the moms in
that group are gonna be soexcited to meet you as well.
Okay, so I'm gonna talk aboutsomething that I know all of us
can relate to, and that ismistakes.
I have made mistakes more than Iwould like to admit, honestly,
as a new mom, and even now as aseasoned mom.
(02:59):
Sometimes it's during the quietmoments with God, and other
times it's in hard conversationswith my kids when the weight of
those mistakes hit me really,really hard.
It's the conviction that stingsand the guilt sometimes lingers,
which is never a good thing.
I mean, I've spent so many dayswondering, why did God trust me
with them?
(03:20):
Because I look at my kids and Isee how wonderful and loving
they are and how much full oflife and joy and fire they have
and the things that they do.
They really are just living lifeday by day without a worry in
the world, which is amazing tosee because as a mom, I worry
about so many things.
(03:40):
And I look at them and I think,why did God trust me with them?
When I lose my patience, when Ibreak a promise, which I have
done in the past, and it doesn'tfeel good, it's actually hurting
me right now to admit that.
And also, I wonder why he trustsme with them when I respond in a
way that makes me cringe lateron as I think about how I've
(04:02):
messed up as a mom, or even nowas I'm talking to you because.
They are cringeworthy momentsthat are popping up in my mind.
'cause the thing is I try tolove, well, I try to lead with
excellence, and yet I still messup even when my intentions are
good.
And for a long time that guiltbecame a constant companion,
which I did not like and couldnot figure out why it kept
(04:25):
lingering around.
The longer it stayed, the harderit was for me to forgive
myself,\ I honestly felt stuckand frustrated because the mom
that I wanted to be wasn't themom that I was living out, and
that disappointed me.
But here's what I've come torealize.
Freedom for a mom guilt doesn'tcome from getting it all right?
(04:49):
It actually comes fromforgiveness.
Real biblical forgiveness, andthat's what we're diving into
today..
But first, let's talk about whatwe think forgiveness is.
See, we think forgiveness isforgetting, and sometimes we
even believe that forgiveness issomething we have to quote
unquote earn back after we'vequote unquote done better for a
(05:14):
period of time.
Right?
So we give ourself a.
Certain amount of time to dobetter, and then we think that
somehow we've earned thatforgiveness, but this actually
keeps us chasing afterperfection instead of striving
for peace and living in grace,or even allowing us to grow
within the mistakes that we'vemade.
(05:35):
Or maybe we think it's onlyabout God forgiving us, not
something that we are invited tolive out daily.
And because of thesemisunderstandings, many mamas,
much like myself, carry guiltthat actually never really goes
away.
Instead of facing the heartissue, we end up sweeping it
(05:56):
under the rug so we don't feelthe pain from the mistakes.
When my son was younger, I'dasked him to clean his room and
for a while I thought he wasdoing a great job One day as I
was picking up his toys.
To put it in his toy chest.
I realized it wasn't as full asit used to be, and I wonder
where they went because I hadn'tthrown anything out.
(06:18):
So I started looking around andeventually I found toys
underneath his bed.
When I asked him why he didthat, he shrugged and he didn't
really have an answer.
When I think about that, as Iask myself, why did God trust me
with these kids, it makes me.
Think about that moment becauseI'd realized that I do the same
(06:41):
thing too.
Not with toys, but with mymistakes.
I hide them hoping no one willnotice.
I try to clean things up on thesurface while avoiding the heart
issue, and the problem issweeping things under the rug,
so to speak, doesn't make themgo away.
It just makes the rug lumpy andhard to walk on.
(07:02):
The same goes for guilt.
We can't just hide it and hopethat it disappears.
That's why understanding trueforgiveness is so powerful.
cause there's a deeper, morefreeing truth about forgiveness
that can actually quiet thevoice of mom guilt.
It's not about forgetting orearning peace, it's about
(07:23):
receiving grace exactly whereyou are.
So we're gonna talk about it.
Forgiveness is a pardon Soimagine this for a second.
What if your bills werecompletely pardoned, forgiven,
right?
What if you didn't have anybills to pay anymore?
Every single one of them, yourmortgage, your car loan, your
(07:46):
credit cards, all of it wipedclean.
You don't have to worry aboutyour bills, but you still get to
keep your income.
Now, as you are imagining this,can you just feel that weight
being lifted off of you?
What would you do with all thatfreedom?
Would you plan a vacation thatyou've been putting off?
(08:07):
Would you invest more into yourkids' future?
Would your stress levels godown?
I know mine would, and I think Iwould travel a lot more too,
honestly.
Now take that same kind ofrelief and freedom that you feel
right now, but instead of money,imagine forgiveness.
(08:27):
What would it feel like to nolonger carry the emotional debt
of your mistakes?
That's a deep question to ask,right?
To have that guilt completelywiped clean, not ignored, not
minimized, but pardoned.
That's what biblical forgivenessdoes.
(08:48):
It doesn't pretend that the debtdoesn't exist.
It just says it's paid for andyou are free.
So what are you gonna do withthis freedom When you stop
trying to prove that you're agood mom or stop trying to make
up for your mistakes and startliving from peace, forgiveness
becomes the foundation.
(09:09):
I.
That you walk in because itbrings you freedom and it gives
you that peace to begin theprocess of forgiveness, it
starts with honesty, and thatcan be hard to do because it
might look like acknowledging amistake or even just naming the
weight that you feel forsomething that wasn't really
your fault, and yet you stillcarry that responsibility
(09:31):
anyway.
Then it's about you choosinggrace and not guilt as your
starting point.
You begin to live like someonewho's already been covered by
the blood of Jesus.
You're not just trying to earnthe forgiveness by working hard
towards something, but you'reactually walking in it.
And that's not to minimize thehard work that you would be
(09:54):
putting in to change from theinside out.
I always come back to what Jesussaid.
He says, I am the way, thetruth, and the life, right?
And when I think about this,those words keep me grounded
because no matter how messymotherhood feels, those words
are consistent.
They remind me of love, that seteverything in motion from the
(10:16):
beginning.
God poured out, mercy andforgiveness was offered.
And it can be hard for us to dothat sometimes.
One of the clearest pictures ofthat is Jesus on the cross.
He said, father, forgive themfor they know not what they do.
You can find this in Lukechapter three, excuse Luke
chapter 23, verse 34.
(10:39):
And that kind of love is hard towrap your mind around because in
Matthew, he teaches us to loveour enemies and pray for those
who persecute us.
And in this time as he was onthe cross, he was praying for
his enemies who were persecutinghim.
Now, I don't know about you, butsometimes I can be my own worst
(11:01):
enemy and it can be hard for meto pray for myself when I'm
persecuting myself.
And even then, forgiveness stillapplies when you understand
forgiveness as.
A gift you live from and notjust something that you ask for,
(11:22):
it changes how you respond tomom guilt because you're no
longer going through motherhoodfrom a place of disappointment
or trying to quote unquote, makeup for your mistakes, or you
sweep things under the rug, as Italked about earlier.
Instead, you begin to walk inpeace, you have more confidence
and grace just flows from you.
(11:44):
It gives you the freedom to showup.
Knowing that while there's stillwork to be done in you, because
let's face it, all of us need toprogress.
We need work done in us.
But as you begin to work andknowing that work still needs to
be done in you, you don't haveto carry the voice of guilt,
questioning your every move andmaking you think or wonder if
(12:07):
you're really enough because.
Mama, let me tell you right now,in Christ, you are enough.
Romans eight, one reminds us,there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus.
That means there's no damnation,no eternal punishment, and the
guilt that you've been carrying.
It's time for you to let it go.
(12:27):
Okay?
There's this picture that myfriend sent me a long time ago.
I mean, she's a really, reallygood friend of mine to the point
where she's practically mysister at this point.
Now I forget the conversationthat she and I had, but I know
we were talking about Jesusbecause this picture was of a
jail cell, but the perspectivewas from inside of that cell,
(12:51):
and it was with the door open.
Now it's been forever, so Ican't remember verbatim what the
words said, but it was somethingalong the lines of, Jesus has
already freed you, so what areyou waiting for?
Honestly, it blew my mindbecause the door was open, and
yet I still chose to stay therebecause I felt like I was being
(13:14):
locked up in my ownunforgiveness or in my own
trouble and baggage.
And that was not the case atall.
It was a picture that foreverchanged my perspective.
Now, it took a while for me tofinally gather up the courage
and the bravery to walk out ofthat cell, but when I did, I
(13:37):
realized that there was nothingkeeping me in there in the first
place.
Because Jesus has already paidit all.
I hope that that helps you andyou know, the guilt that you've
been carrying is not going tokeep you in jail because Jesus
has already set you free.
(13:58):
Now, that's not to say thatwe're not going to ignore the
mistakes that we made because wecertainly do have to acknowledge
it, and we certainly do need totake responsibility for it.
But that responsibility is notin you punishing yourself, but
it's in how you grow from here.
That's the best way that youcould honor your family, honor
God with that.
So the guilt is not meant tolinger, but it does
(14:20):
unfortunately, and it hurts,especially when we fall short.
But the pain that you feel isnot meant to punish you,
especially when our intentionswere good, but the outcome, it
just didn't reflect that.
And we all fall short at timestoo.
But forgiveness lifts thatweight.
It frees you to breathe toreset, which is incredibly
(14:42):
important, and to move forwardin grace.
And you get to have peaceknowing that when you fall
short, you have an opportunityto grow.
And as you are growing, it onlymagnifies God's light even more,
So remember, you're not aimingfor a flawless day where
(15:04):
everything is perfect and goesaccording to plan.
You're not aiming for guiltproof decisions because let's
face it, sometimes us mamas canlose our cool.
We get overstimulated distractedby our phones and we struggle.
And we become frustrated too,because that's part of our
emotions.
We are humans and we havefeelings and emotions that we go
(15:28):
through.
Now, I'm not asking you tosuppress all of these, but I am
challenging you to.
Go to God with the first andsurrender it all to him, the
good and the bad.
Because I personally think ifyou can celebrate with God and
the good, why would you not wantto show him the bad?
(15:48):
Because you know, that goes backinto the story of my son putting
his toys under his bed rightwhen we.
Present to God only the goodthings, and we hide the bad
things.
The truth is, it's not like hedoesn't know.
I believe he's just waiting forus to come to him first with
this heavy feeling that we have.
(16:09):
Forgiveness allows joy to showup in the middle of this messy
thing we call life, and itallows you to lead your kids
well to love and know God.
When you root motherhood inforgiveness, mom, guilt's voice
quiets down.
Eventually it tries to makeitself loud again.
It'll come knocking, but you'vegot the power of God behind you.
(16:33):
Remember, you don't have toprove that you're a good mom.
You can simply be a good momwho's showing up.
Learning and has peace.
Knowing that she's covered bygrace.
Instead of letting guilt dictateyour days, your mind, your moods
and actions, you can startletting God's truth and his
(16:53):
words guide your steps to quietdown the voice of mom guilt.
Alright.
All right, let's take a deepbreath because.
Today's conversation was alittle heavier than usual.
Honestly, forgiveness is not aneasy topic, so I thank you so
much for sticking with methrough this conversation.
(17:14):
It comes with a lot of layersand emotions because we, as moms
go through so much and we hide alot of things too because we're
trying to quote unquote, hold itall together for our family.
When you start to wrap your mindaround the depth of God's love
and the steps you're invited totake in response to that, it can
honestly also feel overwhelming,but in the best way because
(17:37):
while it's hard, it will leadyou into a more peaceful place.
So as you're taking it all in, Iwant to remind you of these
truths.
Forgiveness is not about earningyour way back or hiding where
you're falling short.
It's not about minimizingmistakes or pretending that it
didn't matter.
True Biblical forgiveness is apardon.
It gives you peace and evenencourages you to grow.
(18:00):
When you see forgiveness thisway, it changes everything
because now you don't have toquote unquote, make up for your
mistakes.
You don't need to punishyourself either.
Instead, you get to show up as amom who is walking in real
freedom with true peace.
Now, I know it's hard, but youcan do hard things.
(18:29):
Thank you so much for hangingout with me today.
I had such a wonderful time.
I cannot wait to meet you againnext Wednesday.
Right here on this podcast.
Mamma.
I hope that as you are inspiredand uplifted, that you would
show up at all the spaces andplaces ready to serve with a
joyful heart.
And yes, with confidence.
Please take a moment to leave areview on apple podcasts.
(18:52):
It would bring me so much joyhearing from you If you want to
connect even more, join theinsider's list.
I would love to continue helpingyou as you journey on the link
to join the insider's list isgoing to be posted in the show
notes..
All right, my friend, this iswhere we part ways.
I hope you have a wonderful day.
Go in peace.