Forgiving Yourself

For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech, never says the wrong things, he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature. - James 3:2

This is a very important Scripture to understand for those of us who beat ourselves up with every mistake we make.

I am one of those. I catch myself sometimes, dwelling on what I could have done, should have done, or how all my problems must somehow be because I am not good enough. I can hear the enemy whisper in my ear..."you are just God's 'step child,' you will never measure up." I do my best to fight him and his horrible mental attack. However, there are times when a grenade will slip past my shield and I will receive it and find myself wondering if it IS true!!

We must all understand that we will never be perfect while we live on earth. We can't. It is IMPOSSIBLE. There was only One perfect person and that was Jesus. He was the Only One and there will NEVER be another.

He died so that we no longer have to be slaves to sin. We will still sin, but it no longer has to control our lives. We have the power to overcome sin. As we grow in the Lord, we will most definitely sin less. The closer you get to God, the less and less you will want to sin. However, we are still human in human bodies. We still have a flesh and are still capable of making mistakes.

When we make a mistake, God wants us to repent and then receive His forgiveness. You see, when we ask Him to forgive us, He forgets. He chooses to no longer remember the wrong that we did.

Keep in mind, this doesn't give us license to sin...that can be a dangerous game and is another subject. It does, however, give us the assurance that when we make a mistake, God loves us and will forgive us when we truly repent.

We are the ones who have a problem forgetting. We are the ones who seem to have this ridiculous desire to have a self loathing pity party that never ends. Who are we to throw the gift of forgiveness back in the Fathers face?

If He forgets our mistakes, shouldn't we?

Let's pray,

Daddy God, thank You for loving me and being quick to forgive me when I mess up. Lord, I ask that You help me to forgive myself. I ask that You help me to receive Your forgiveness when I ask for it and then pick myself up and move on. The precious gift you have given me is sometimes overwhelming. I cannot always understand how You can love me so much. I will choose from this day on to accept Your forgiveness and press on! In Jesus Mighty, Loving, and FORGIVING Name, Amen.