Forgive Yourself
If you are seeking joy and peace in your life, you must not leave out the key element : FORGIVE YOURSELF!
I am the type of person that no matter the depth of the hurt inflicted upon me, I can forgive. Sometimes, it takes a little longer than other times, but eventually I forgive and let go. It is much easier for me to forgive YOU than it is for me to forgive ME! I think there is a tendency in all of us to hold ourselves more accountable than we do others. Somehow, we must pay the penalty for all of the wrongs that we have committed in life; so we think.
And because we think this way, we live this way; forgiving others but not forgiving ourselves. When I look to the Bible, I cannot find much about “forgiving yourself”, however, the principles of forgiveness are There all thru the Bible. In fact, the Bible says that when we ask, God forgives us and throws our sins into the sea of forgetfulness, meaning He no longer remembers our wrong doing. Is this to imply that God is forgetful? I don’t think so. However, because God loves us so much and forgives us, He CHOOSES to not bring our past sin back up. He doesn’t throw it in our face with a, “remember when?”
Can we conclude then that forgiving ourselves isn’t even about forgetting? I conclude that if God chooses to not bring our sin (that has been put under the blood) up again, then we shouldn’t either. Forgiving ourselves is not forgetting where we have come from, instead, forgiving ourselves is simply refusing to bring the offense back up, over and over again.
(Philippians 4:9) “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from Me, or seen in Me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
To forgive yourself first starts with asking God for forgiveness, then (if necessary) ask the one whom you have offended to forgive you and then ask yourself to forgive you. Forgiveness is simply the act of letting go, if God can move on from your past mistakes, shouldn’t you too?
BLESSINGS. Laurie
@copyright2018 laurieadams
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So, so true, Laurie. I often can’t forgive myself, however the older I get, I understand grace more and more. I need to be more gracious, since God has forgiven me graciously.