THE POWER OF SELF-FORGIVENESS

By Danelle Carvell

                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

One thing we all have in common is that we mess up. You heard the phrase, "We all have skeletons in our closets." People say that because there's much truth to it. I don't know anyone who doesn't have regrets, embarrassing moments, or mistakes in their past that they wish they could do over. 

I'm writing this to encourage you if you are deeply troubled by a past mistake. I have made more than my share of mistakes and I'm not going to go into that because that would be counter-productive to this message. It's a message about the power of forgiving yourself, and when you forgive, that means that you think about it no more. You don't bring it up ever again and you don't think about it. 

If you're not a Christian who has accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you might not understand the grace that we can live under. You might be beating yourself up for a past mistake and feeling a kind of self-hatred for some things you did. But you don't have to live that way. You can be set free.

This is how it works. When I accepted Christ, I became a new person. I was given a new identity. A Christian is never condemned under the judgement of God because she has been washed clean by the atoning death of Jesus at the cross. 

Jesus took all our sins on himself. He put himself in the place of condemnation that we deserved. And God accepts that as payment for our sins. The only thing we have to do is accept what Christ did for us. When we accept Christ, we are declared righteous in God's eyes. And we can have peace in knowing that we will forever live in God's favor. 

If you're a Christian and you continue to beat yourself up for past mistakes, then you are disrespecting what Jesus did for you. We don't need to be oppressed by our own personal failures. We can have rest because the guilt of all our mistakes...past, present and future are repeatedly washed away by that sacrifice that Jesus made for us at the cross. 

Now that doesn't mean that we will not need to apologize or make corrections when we mess up. What it means is that God is not keeping score. When he forgives you, he completely forgets the mistake and he doesn't think about it ever again. That's what true forgiveness is. So you don't need to go around confessing your mistake and feeling bad about it. You can completely forget about it too.

Jesus Christ died so you could be set free from all condemnation.  Romans 8:1 says, "Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." There's nothing sadder than a Christian who feels depressed about her past mistakes. It is such an unnecessary suffering. It's like saying to Jesus, "You died for nothing. I don't accept what you did. I'm going to just live in turmoil and reject what you did for me at the cross."

If this blog entry has struck a nerve in you, then let today be the day that you let go of all your bad feelings and regrets of your past mistakes. If you confessed it to God and accepted Jesus' sacrifice on your behalf, then you need to let it go. Your mistakes are not a part of you and they don't define you as a person. Think about it no more. Jesus set you free.