Freedom Through ForgivenessSample

Forgive Yourself Because God Has

We have covered what forgiveness is and what it is not. We have also covered why you should forgive. Now we are going to get into the who. This may be an obvious answer, but there is more to it than forgiving the person who hurt you. The first person you need to forgive is yourself.

The number one reason that you need to forgive yourself is simply that God forgave you. This is enough by itself. Sometimes we get the notion that we know better than God Himself, but the truth of the matter is that God knows better than anyone else.

If God forgave you, who are you not to forgive yourself? Do you think you know better than God? Most people will say no, but when you choose not to forgive yourself when God forgave you, you act as if you know better than God.

Holding your mistakes against yourself is not some type of humility. It's one of the most prominent forms of pride. You are telling God that you know yourself better than He does. You are also telling God that what Jesus did for you is not good enough.

The Way You Forgive Yourself Will Affect How You Forgive Other People

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." - Mark 12:30-31 ESV

You must love your neighbor as yourself. Many of us are familiar with this scripture, and we all need to love others as we love ourselves. God said it, and we need to do it. The question I have for you is, "Do you love yourself?"

In this verse, the standard for loving your neighbor is set by how you love yourself. This is why the way you see yourself is so important. The way you perceive yourself will impact the way you love yourself, and as we can see, the way you love yourself will, in turn, influence the way you love other people.

The way you forgive yourself will affect the way you forgive others.

How Do You See Yourself?

When I say love yourself, I am not talking about any kind of mind trick that is just repetition. I am talking about genuinely loving yourself because you know and understand who you really are. To love yourself healthily, you must see yourself the way God sees you. The way that God sees you is the best way for you to see yourself.

How Does God See You?

If you struggle to see yourself in a healthy light, discover what God says about you, meditate on it, and let it transform your life. This is not the only action that you can do, but it should always be part of the process.

You Are Righteous

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

Being the righteousness of God means that you are in right standing with God. It means that when God sees you, He sees what Jesus did for you. I, for one, am very thankful for this. I know what I did in my past, and I am grateful that God does not hold it against me. He sees Jesus when He sees me.

Here are some other verses to meditate on …

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:10 ESV

You were hand-created by God. You are not an accident!

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." - 1 John 3:1 ESV

You are a child of God! You are a child of the MOST HIGH God! You are royalty.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

You are a person who is worthy of love, and God loves you. The way you see yourself will affect the way you love yourself. For you to love others the way God would, you must see yourself the way God sees you.

You are more than the standards you set for yourself, other people's approval, the blame that others try to put on you, or the shame you and others try to put on yourself. You are who God says you are. You need to believe it and get that settled.

Love Yourself

Now that you see yourself the way God sees you, you can love yourself the way God loves you.

How you love yourself will determine how you love others, so how you forgive yourself will determine how you forgive others. If you can't forgive yourself because of your mistakes, you will find it hard to forgive others.

When you struggle with loving yourself, continue meditating on the verses above regarding your identity in Christ. It’s much easier to love yourself when you know who you really are. When you know what God says about you and that you are God’s child, you will see that you are worthy of love. And because you are worthy of love, you are worthy of forgiving yourself. To forgive others, you must forgive yourself first.

You Are Worth Forgiving

If you struggle with forgiving yourself, you need to renew your mind to who you are.

EVERYONE deserves forgiveness because God is willing to forgive EVERYONE! (John 3:16)

There are certain promises in the Bible that are contingent upon obedience, faith, and being a child of God. Love and Forgiveness are NOT any of them. You qualify no matter who you are.

However, just because it's available doesn't mean you have it; YOU MUST RECEIVE IT!

YOU ARE WORTH IT. It doesn't matter what your parents, spouse, "baby-momma,” “baby-daddy,” children, or anyone says, YOU ARE WORTH LOVE and FORGIVENESS. If God sees it fit to forgive you, you can forgive yourself.

When you don't forgive yourself from your past, you are limiting your future.