Forgiveness

Today, I want to talk about something we all have access to, but for whatever reason, hesitate to accept. And what’s even more disturbing, won’t readily accept it for ourselves. Interestingly enough, we would prefer to forgive a friend or total stranger before forgiving ourselves. Why do you think it is so difficult for us to forgive ourselves? It couldn’t be that the transgression was so horrid that deems it unforgivable, that being the case, Jesus would not have given His life so that we could live a life of forgiveness. Nope, He would have thought to Himself, did they just do that? Well, since that is totally unforgivable, I guess I will just get down from the cross, and that would have been that. But that is not what happened. Why, because there is no action, with the exception of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, that cannot be forgiven. So, barring that, why do we tell ourselves that we will never forgive ourselves for certain behaviors? Why do we insist on not accepting what was so lovingly given to us? Who do we believe we are impressing by refusing to accept forgiveness for ourselves? Let me help you learn how to forgive yourself. First, we need to understand that life is about making mistakes. God knows that we will make mistakes, that’s why forgiveness is necessary. If He is willing to forgive us, we in His image, should be even more willing to forgive ourselves. Moreover, in making that mistake, God was able to teach us a valuable lesson that we would not have been able to learn otherwise, so stop punishing yourself for something you did in your past. The interesting thing is, is that when you made the mistake, or did the “stupid” thing, it wasn’t that stupid. The decision was made with the information you had available at the time. So now in your increased level of intelligence, wisdom, and maturity, you penalize yourself for making a decision in the absence of these things. Stop the madness, forgive yourself, let go of the regret, and live the abundant life Jesus Christ has offered you.