Forgiving Yourself

Self Forgiveness:
My Story

As a stay at home mom that also homeschools the oldest, it is sometimes hard to find the time to read my Bible and speak to my Lord. The girls are always around me ( not that I mind) and if I try to hid, they will find me.;) For this reason I love my alone time in my car. I drive around town listening to Christian music and talking to my Savior. Every once in a while as I'm driving, my past comes back to hunt me. I start remembering what I did and did not do. What I said and should of kept  to myself. Then condemnation starts creeping in. All of a sudden I start listening to the song that is being played on the radio and it's ALWAYS a song talking about past regrets and the Lord wiping the slate clean. The most exciting thing happens. My thoughts of condemnation, sadness,  guilt,  and shame disappear.  No matter what I have done or said, 1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Matthew West

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What Does the Bible Say About Condemnation?

 1 John 3:19-20 

"This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts (thoughts emotions) condemn (blame) us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything." 

Romans 8:1  
"now there is now NO condemnation "

Philippians 3:13 ESV

"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,"

2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" 

Hebrews 9:14 
"How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" 

Psalm 103:12 

"As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."

1 John 3:21-23
"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have (1)confidence before God and (2)receive from him anything we ask, because we (3)keep his commands and (4)do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us." 

What My Pastor Said About Condemnation.

Step #1, be honest with yourself

Realize that down deep inside, you're not happy with the person of your past. If you are in denial, then forget trying to treat the root of your problem. You need to see the problem before you can apply the solution. It might even be helpful to list all of the things that you hate about your past, and one-by-one, give them to the Lord and release yourself from each failure.

Step #2, you need to realize that your debt has been PAID

The only way that you can beat yourself up, after Jesus has paid your debt, is if you aren't accepting the gift that He has given you. If He's paid the debt, and you keep denying that fact, then you are rejecting the very gift that God has given you! You need to accept what Jesus has done for you by faith.

Galatians 2:16, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."

1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Step #3, allow the Holy Spirit to heal your soul

You need to let God heal you... as long as you keep holding something against yourself, you are blocking the Holy Spirit's power from entering and healing that area of your mind and life! You need to open up your heart, and allow the light of Christ to shine into that dark area of your soul.

Step #4, begin to see the "new creature" of Christ within you

Accept the gift with joy... 

You are not seeing yourself as you really are. If you've repented of your past, and sought God's forgiveness, then you are forgiven or justified (which means "just as if I've never sinned"). It's not that you should try to forget what happened (don't remind yourself of it either though), but the important key is to see your past through the Blood of Jesus. You need to see your past as "paid in full" by the work that Christ did for you on the cross! Seeing things with this perspective changes everything! 

Christ has given us the gift of freedom.