With a Subtitle: Says Woman Whose Moral Compass Is More Developed Than God's
A brief Excerpt: Words of Wisdom from the Babylon Bee Theology – Many Christians have had the painful thought, "I know God forgives me, but I can't forgive myself." Even when one believes that God has forgiven them, the emotional weight of past sins…
Words of Wisdom from the Babylon Bee Theology – Many Christians have had the painful thought, “I know God forgives me, but I can’t forgive myself.” Even when one believes that God has forgiven them, the emotional weight of past sins can remain. Scripture tells believers that God’s grace is complete …
2 Corinthians 12:9a - But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
However, there are at least three reasons why someone might still have trouble forgiving themselves.
The Burden of Guilt and Shame
Guilt and shame are heavy emotional burdens that make it challenging for believers to forgive themselves. When someone realizes how serious their sin is, they can feel overwhelmed. Godly sorrow can lead to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10), but it can also become too much if it isn’t balanced with the truth of God’s grace.
After his sin with Bathsheba, King David felt this kind of pain. He wrote in …
Psalm 38:4, "For my sins have gone over my head; they are too heavy for me."
David knew exactly how heavy guilt could be. The memory of doing something wrong can still bother a person’s heart, even after they have repented.
The enemy, Satan, often uses this lingering shame to keep believers from forgiving themselves. But the Bible tells us that forgiveness takes away our sin in front of God.
Psalm 103:12 says, "He takes our sins away from us as far as the east is from the west."
Struggling to Accept God’s Grace
Some Christians also have a hard time forgiving themselves because they have a hard time fully accepting how deep God’s grace is. Many think that some sins are just too bad to be completely forgiven, so they measure forgiveness by human standards. This is a major barrier for seekers to initially accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, as well.
But God’s forgiveness doesn’t depend on how good any of us are. It is based completely on Christ’s sacrificial death. John 1:9 reminds us,
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
The apostle Paul knew this to be true. Before he became a Christian, Paul persecuted Christians, thinking he was doing God’s will. But later, writing in 1 Timothy 1:15, he said …
"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and I am the worst of them."
Paul knew that what he had done in the past was terribly wrong, but he also knew that God’s grace covered over those sins.
Not forgiving oneself while knowing an omnipotent God has forgiven them as far as East is from West (Psalm 103:12), and thereby doubting the work Christ did on the cross, is a rejection of faith, hope, and trust.
Dealing with the Effects of Sin
People have a hard time forgiving themselves for a third reason: the effects of sin often last even after they have been forgiven. God may forgive right away, but the effects on Earth can last for years.
David gives another example. God forgave him after he repented (2 Samuel 12:13), but the effects of what he did still hurt his family and kingdom. These consequences can make believers relive their mistakes over and over again, which makes it harder for them to accept forgiveness.
Paul talked about the painful memories of his past when he wrote in Philippians 3:13–14,
"Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ."
We all carry the burden of sin in our lives. Feeling the cost of that sin is Biblically sound since it often triggers repentance. To never feel recovery from our sin is Biblically unsound since it is a sign we do not trust the power of God to forgive.
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
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