Forgiving ourselves is one of the hardest hurdles we have to need to get over.
When it comes to forgiving others, I have often shared that the failure to forgive others; the desire to hold a grudge; the unwillingness to move on; holding onto hard feelings or even feelings of hate, makes me a slave to that person. They own me. They control me.
But what about that which I consider possibly even harder-the ability or willingness to forgive ourselves? I have seen way too many people able to forgive others, but then wreck their own lives because they can’t or won’t forgive themselves. Big or little sin (usually a whopper) just will not let go. It’s like an albatross around the neck, choking the life out of us.
David’s psalm-known as Psalm 51-deals with this straight on. His adulterous affair with Bathsheba and subsequent murder of her husband, Uriah, to cover it up, is exposed by the prophet Nathan (full story in 2 Samuel 11). David is convicted of his sin and his guilt is palpable. One can feel his anguish as he lays it all out. “Have mercy. Wash me clean. Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Forgive me for shedding blood.” One can not read those words and not sense David’s pain and agony over his sin. But one can also see David is moving on. He wasn’t going to allow his sin to define him, to hold him down.
Neither should I. Neither should you. There is nothing you or I have done, there is no sin you or I have committed, that is beyond the reach of God’s grace. Confess it. Repent of it. Now…walk away in freedom being sure of God’s limitless grace.
Yes, forgiving ourselves is crucial in our ability to grow in God’s grace and love. God extends His endless compassion to each of us.
Blessings, Bill!
And I am so glad He does.
So true Bill. We hold on to our sins and failure’s constantly reminding ourselves of them. We can get stuck in their mire. It is only by God’s mercy that we can be forgiven and only His mercy that enables us to move on.
True Pam. We cannot rely on God’s mercy too much.
The enemy has a nasty little way of bringing up the past in order to hinder our walk into the future. A little half-truth whispered in the ear… “See, You aren’t good enough to overcome that sin”
… The full truth is that without Christ, I will never be good enough… but IN Christ, I have victory… Past, Present, and Future. When that ugly little serpent starts to slither up to your ear… Just knock him back off and remember the freedom we have in Christ.
And that is the truth I am trying to get across Ryan. We aren’t good enough but in Christ we have the freedom we so desperately crave.
I recently read a book called Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table by Louie Giglio. Basically it is a reminder that we do belong to God, and are covered by His grace. The only way we let the devil sit at our table is when we give him the invitation to do so by our own doubts, fears, and twisting God’s words. Anytime we think or hear words on negativity, anything that does not line up with the Bible, those words are not God’s words, those words come from the enemy who wants to turn you away from God. We need to win the battle in our minds, by binding our thoughts with God’s words only. We do need to repent sin, but God will not hold us captive by a sin we have turned over to Him. God’s mercy, grace, and love will cover us, and will set us free. Tell those ugly thoughts, to go sit elsewhere, we want our table for Christ only.
Very well said Gail. I agree with Louie. We do give Satan a seat at our table when we allow him to invade our thoughts and capture our minds with his lies. I like what you say: “we do need to repent of our sin, but God will not hold us captive by a sin we have turned over to him.” That, as they say, will preach.