We all have made mistakes in our past (and even in our present!). There are times we can go back and make amends for those mistakes, but let’s face it, there are times we cannot. It can be easier to accept God’s forgiveness than it is to let go of the guilt and shame we feel ourselves. We wonder “If God has forgiven me, why can’t I forgive myself? Why do I have a difficult time overcoming guilt from past mistakes?”
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How Can I Forgive Myself?
I know in my case, I have an easier time forgiving other people for wrongs done to me than I have forgiving myself for things I may have said or done! I know God has forgiven me and yet I still hold onto guilt and shame.
The Bible tells us in Psalm 103:12:
“as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
He forgives us and then CHOOSES to remember our sins no more. They are buried! They are gone! They are erased!
And yet we feel as though some of our sins are just too great
The guilt we feel is so strong that we feel just handing them over to Jesus is somehow getting off easy! We have not been beaten down enough for what we have done! Surely we must endure SOME pain for the ills we have done!!
Michah 7:19 says:
He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Where Does Shame Come From?
Shame is what the enemy uses to keep us from experiencing the joy we have in Christ.
If we are feeling shame, we have not fully released our sins to God. We are holding them close, nursing them until the shame grows bigger and looms larger. The enemy wants us to live our lives defeated by sin and shame and not experiencing the joy in the forgivenes
What we are actually doing in carrying this guilt
We feel as though we have to satisfy our own sense of reconciliation rather than the reconciliation Jesus
We believe “It is finished” but not when it comes to the price paid for OUR sins. We carry them around 
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Forgiving Yourself
God has not only forgiven you of your sins but He has chosen to forget they ever happened! So stop reminding Him of something He has elected to forget!
You may not FEEL forgiven, but your feelings lie! The truth of the Word
Stop putting yourself under the burden of sin when Jesus died to free you from it!
Stop believing you can, in any way, have control over your own redemption from it!
Stop putting yourself under the burden of sin when Jesus died to free you from it!Click To Tweet
Below you will find some books I recommend, as well as some other posts you might enjoy!
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Books I Recommend:
Some other posts you might enjoy:
FEELING BROKEN – LESSONS FROM A BROKEN PLATE
WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE YOU DON’T MEASURE UP -YOU ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH
WHEN YOU FEEL YOU’VE STRAYED TOO FAR EVEN FOR GOD
4 REASONS GOD USES BROKEN & FLAWED PEOPLE
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Love your thoughts on this topic. I believe hanging on to guilt is a form of selfishness, of self-importance. We think we must atone for our guild ourselves, but Christ has already absolved us of the guilt. All we have to do is let it go.
Amen!! Thank you!!
That is why we have repentance and the atonement of Jesus Christ. This is why I don’t have to look backwards just forward and learn and be better.
Amen!! Well said!!
Good thoughts. The truth is, we don’t have the power or authority to forgive ourselves. We just have to trust in the work Jesus did for us. laurensparks.net
Amen! We carry a burden around that’s not ours to bear.
This is a very encouraging post and very relevant to me. I guess the problem I have sometimes is in wondering if I’ve truly repented. We know that God is always willing to forgive and that He has removed our sin as far as the East is from the West. But we sometimes have this tendency to want to return to our sin like a dog returning to its vomit.
However, Isaiah 64:6 also tells us our righteousness is like filthy rags. Our own repentance is never good enough anyway, and is often mixed in with our own ulterior motives instead of 100% truly wanting to be in fellowship with God again. So it can’t be dependent on us otherwise we would always fall short. God looks at Jesus’ righteousness instead of ours. That said, I know that I still often carry around burdens unnecessarily.
You are right, we do return to it like a dog to vomit. I love that verse in Proverbs. The folly we keep returning to though is the thinking that somehow we actually play a role in our own righteousness. The enemy is the one who wants us to keep questioning! He is the one that wants us to keep harping on things Jesus already took care of. He wants us to live our lives outside of that victory we have. Our feelings don’t have to line up with it right away as long as we know Jesus paid it all! I think the fact that you are even concerned about it shows you have repented! So tell the enemy to take a hike and leave it at the cross dear brother!
Forgiveness can be a tricky thing. We are often more apt to forgive someone else than we are to forgive ourselves.
That is me 100%. I am so forgiving, except when it comes to myself!
“You may not feel forgiven, but your feelings lie!” Such a powerful sentence. I’m still working through accepting forgiveness for mistakes make over a decade ago. Some of them are so silly yet I hold on to my guilt. It’s really quite ridiculous! This post is a great reminder that how I feel doesn’t dictate my forgiveness in the eyes of God!
I know what you mean! It is tough because the world has taught us to feel guilty. I am so glad you enjoyed the post!
This is such an important truth: “So stop reminding Him of something He has elected to forget!” Yes, I need to stop bringing up these things to God again and again. Thanks, Diane!
Thank you Lisa!!
Sometimes you feel like you let yourself down and you should have known better. This admission brings tremendous sense of guilt and shame. But we should know also that God has forgiven us an has made the grace available to walk in that forgiveness.
Amen Ingrid!!
I can definitely get caught in the cycle of feeling like I am not enough. I haven’t done enough. I failed someone, or worse I failed God. Love these beautiful reminders. #Salt&Light
Thank you Brittany!!