Forgiving Ourselves
Forgiving Ourselves
God has a lot to say about forgiveness in the Bible. 1If we repent of our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 2If we repent of our sins, He chooses to remember our sins against us no more! 3He says as far as the east is from the west, I will put your sins from you. 4I will put your sins in the sea of My forgetfulness, never to be remembered against you. But, when we think our sin is too great, we don’t see how God can forgive us - and even if He can, we can’t forgive ourselves. Doesn’t that sound righteous, holy and noble? We’re so sorry for the sin we committed that we can’t forgive ourselves. But, do you know that nowhere in the Bible (all 31,102 verses) does God ever tell us to forgive ourselves! Our failure is the sinning and our restoration the repenting. God’s role is the forgiving and forgetting! David tells God in Psalm 51, to “cleanse me from all unrighteousness,” we can’t cleanse ourselves - to “renew a right spirit in me” - we can’t renew ourselves. When God has cleansed me from all unrighteousness and renews a right spirit in me, the sin no longer exists! It is as though I have never sinned. That’s why I can go to Heaven. Jesus took my sins, so I don’t have any! If God has used me even one time after asking for forgiveness, and not feeling forgiven, then I am forgiven! 5 “Whom the son sets free is free indeed.” Never go by your feelings or emotions. Feelings have been given by God as a “sign post” that points to something that needs addressing, not a “rest area” to sit in condemnation. 6If I have to forgive myself - I’ll never be able to come boldly to the throne of grace for restoration. I’ll never have the faith to leave my shame, to believe God could forgive me. 7Without faith it is impossible to please God. 8Whatever is not of faith is sin. 9Jesus said He put His faith and trust in no man, for He knew what was in all men. So I can’t have faith in me, I must have faith in God and His promise of forgiveness! He died for us!
11 John 1:9 (Paraphrase)
2Isaiah 43:25; Hebrews 8:12 (Paraphrase)
3Psalm 103:12 (Paraphrase)
4Micah 7:19 (Paraphrase)
5John 8:36 (Paraphrase)
6Hebrews 4:16 (Paraphrase)
7Hebrews 11:6 (Paraphrase)
8Romans 14:23 (Paraphrase)
9John 2:24 (Paraphrase)