Forgive Yourself

“But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” - 1 John 1:9 
 
Have you ever done something so bad that you just don’t see how God could forgive you for it? You have read all the verses trying to believe it. You have prayed a thousand times because you think if you just pray enough maybe one day, He will forgive you. You go to church because you think maybe the answer is just doing more good than bad and eventually one day you will be a “good enough” person for God to overlook the bad.

If any of these relate to you, I want to tell you something today: STOP. Stop wearing yourself thin. Stop working for forgiveness. You already have it! If you are a believer in Christ and you have given your life to Jesus, YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN.
 
If you have not already, go back and read our devotion from yesterday on just how far God has removed the sins in your life. If you have asked Him to forgive you and prayed for forgiveness, He has answered your request. He has forgiven you.  

1 John 1:9 says, “But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”
 
If you have confessed your sins to Him, He’s forgiven you. But have you forgiven yourself? For many of us, it actually isn’t about God forgiving us. We know His Word is true. We know He’s forgiven us. We just can’t seem to forgive ourselves.

In this life, you are going to mess up. We are all human, and we are all sinners. That is exactly why we need the cross. But that is the best part. Jesus died so that we don’t have to hold our sins! He took them to the cross with Him. You are no longer a slave to sin!  

It’s time to forgive yourself. Jesus has already forgiven you. He has removed your sins as far as the east is from the west. Your prayer for forgiveness has been answered. It’s time to forgive yourself!