Forgiveness: Part Three

This is the third and final installment of our look at forgiveness. You may be wondering, “What’s left to talk about? God’s forgiven me, I’ve forgiven others… what am I missing?” This time we talk about forgiving ourselves. Oh, and once again, if you are new and haven’t read Forgiveness: Part One, go back and read it! Part two is not as necessary, but I encourage you to read that one as well. Anyhoo…

“Forgive myself?” you may be thinking. “What are you talking about?” Let me explain what I mean. Have you ever done something wrong, and felt guilty about it? Of course! We all have. That’s the Holy Spirit convicting us through our conscience. That is not what I am talking about.

Ok, scenario two. Have you ever done something wrong and sincerely asked God for forgiveness, but afterward you still were beating yourself up over it? “How could I have been so stupid! Why did I do that? I’m such a horrible person…” etc. THAT is what I’m talking about here.

Now as we learned back in Part One, God forgives you. Not only does He forgive you, but He makes you clean as though it never happened. Quite literally, He “forgives and forgets”. It says in Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our sins from us.” It says it a little clearer in Isaiah 43:25. “I, I am the One who erases all your sins, for my sake; I will not remember your sins.” And again, in Jeremiah 31:34, “I'll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I'll forget they ever sinned!”

“Ok.” You may be saying. “You covered this two weeks ago. God forgave me, ok. What about it?” The point I am making is that God forgets your sin. He will never bring it up again. Now, if the God of the universe can forget your sin… shouldn’t you?

“Now hold on!” perhaps is your cry. “It’s not as easy as all that! It’s not like I want to feel guilty! Who would? But I’ve done so much, I’ve hurt someone, I’ve hurt myself… how do you expect me to suddenly be peachy overnight?” I don’t, and neither does God. Some wounds take time to heal… but why add to the weight of your pain by allowing these thoughts of guilt to keep haunting you?

I say allowing, because I agree that you don’t do it to yourself. So, logically, if YOU aren’t bringing it up, and GOD isn’t bringing it up, who is? It ain’t yo mama, I’ll tell you that. Satan is called the Great Deceiver, and with good reason! He loves nothing better than trying to tear you down. He brings up old sins, past failures, current fears, and future hopelessness. It says in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Trust me when I say that he is after you, and he is in no way above using things that God has forgiven and forgotten to hurt you!

Look at what you’ve done! Look at all the people you’ve hurt. You are horrible, worthless!
Do you really think that God can use you now? Why bother even trying?
You failed before… what makes you think you won’t fail this time?
You’re not good enough…
Remember when you did that? Can you really go to God with a heart like yours?

Any of these lies sound familiar to you? Just remember that they are lies! It says in John 8:44, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Even his very NAME gives you a clue… the word “Devil” in its original Greek form literally means ‘Slanderer’, or liar. It’s what he does. I’m not going to lie to you (ha, very punny, right? No, sorry, that was terrible.), that is a scary thought sometimes.

So here’s the good news. We don’t have to give in to him! If we are in Christ, and Christ in us, he has no real power over us. It says in James 4:7, “So place yourselves under God's authority. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you.” If that’s not encouraging, I don’t know what is. When we call on God, Satan runs! He has no choice but to go scurrying off, tail between his legs, screaming like a little girl! Well, maybe he might just slink off and sulk, I don’t know. In any event, he leaves you alone! Will it be a one-time battle? No. Will he likely return to torment you again? Yes. I told you, that’s just what he does!

But don’t worry. Take comfort in the knowledge that Satan has no power over you, that you are forgiven, and that God will never bring that sin up again. It’s washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ. And thank God for that, because I will tell you what, my friends… we would be in some hot water without it.

So, to wrap up all my rambling… let God help you to let go of your guilt and shame. You don’t need it. It’s a trick of the devil to keep you from feeling like you can do anything for God. You are so far above that… you are a child of the King! I know it’s not as easy as a snap of the fingers, and I don’t want to make this sound like a quick-fix… just call on God, trust His promises, and know that you are forgiven.



Well, this was it on forgiveness! Now you know... what are you going to do with it?

Still praying about what to talk about next week and in the future, so if you have a suggestion, please let me know! Thanks darlings! I love you!