Forgiving Ourselves

When we study and read God’s holy word, we are instructed to not resist an evil person and to forgive them for their transgressions. What if we were the one that was perpetrating the transgressions and being the evil one? I think for a lot of Believers it’s much easier to forgive others than ourselves. We are taking away the righteous of God when we continue to hold a grudge against ourselves. Why is it so hard for us to look in the mirror and say “In Jesus name I forgive you”? Thoughts on the topic are greatly appreciated. May the Lord of Hosts lead us in His truth and glory.

Hello @Aerials1978, I don't think that we need to 'forgive ourselves' when we've sinned, rather, we need to listen to, believe and honor the One who saved us and loves us, by ~choosing~ to take Him at His word .. e.g. 1 John 1:9, (rather than listening to/believing 1. our feelings and/or 2. Satan's lies and deceptions, which the enemy uses to further influence our feelings whenever we sin).

I think the real question is this, why is it so easy for us to believe our "feelings" & Satan's "lies", and so hard for us to believe God

Thanks!

~Deut
p.s. - we should be ashamed/grieved whenever the HS convicts us of sin, but we must not doubt/deny the truth of God (and thereby dishonor Him and sin again) because we are. Again, we need to make a conscious choice to take God at His word, rather than listening to our feelings/Satan's lies (which, admittedly, can be very powerful at times). We also need to realize that we are of little use to God and His kingdom whenever we allow ourselves to wallow in self-pity over sins which we have already been forgiven of.
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I totally agree that feelings can cause one to stumble and lead off the path, but I also do believe that in order to get God full grace, sometimes we need forgive ourselves. It’s difficult to do when you have hurt so many people. Overcoming that is what Jesus wants us to do and it can be done.

Hello again Aerials1978, one last question, while it's true that God wants us to forgive those who have sinned against us, what do you think is behind that/what is His true purpose in having us do so Does God intend forgiveness to be an end in itself, or does He intend something more by it

Thanks again!

~Deut

Thanks for the question. I believe that if we are to be like Christ, we need to forgive as he forgives. We cannot truly be free if we feel as though a debt needs to pay to us for transgressions. Jesus paid the debt, let Him in his divine nature rebuke those that sin against us. Who do is more just than the Creator.

Hello Aerials, if we are supposed to "let Jesus in his divine nature rebuke those that sin against us", then why do you believe that He commands us to do so


Thanks!

~Deut

It's the battle of faith, faith means looking away from yourself, looking outside of yourself to Christ.

Maybe I should have been more specific. Jesus said if a Brother sins again you rebuke him. If that person is not a Brother(A Believer) let the Lord rebuke him.

I’m in complete agreement with you.