Dear Reverend, I really need to know. Is it possible for the Lord to forgive us when we can’t seem to forgive ourselves?
Yes, the Lord is more than willing to forgive us even if we can’t seem to forgive ourselves. The price He paid on the cross is greater than all our sins. The truth is, if you have asked Him for forgiveness, He has already forgiven you! Here’s something to think about. If we can’t forgive ourselves when God already has, that means we’re setting our own standard for forgiveness that is higher than God’s. – Rev.
Dear Reverend, I am sorry, I don’t feel I am setting a higher standard than God’s. I truly can’t forgive myself. Perhaps because I can’t forget. I don’t know. I feel I have forgiven myself for other things in my life, yet when I allow myself to remember, it shakes me to the core. Perhaps I am reaping what I have sown. I don’t feel it questions my inheritance to the kingdom, yet I feel undeserving. My Lord loves me, I know this, but I continue to struggle with a decision I made many, many years ago. In our youth we make many mistakes that we do not pay for until we are older.
I understand what you’re saying as it’s harder to forgive ourselves for past mistakes when the consequences are there to remind us. It sounds like whatever you can’t forgive yourself for has affected your life now and that’s why it’s so hard. It reminds me of David’s prayer, “Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindnesses, For they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord” – Psalm 25:4-7
God understands the “sins of our youth”. He understands us and the mistakes we often make. God will never use them to punish us, He already knows the hurt we experience from straying from His ways. All I can tell you is try to forgive yourself because God already has. It’s not doing yourself or God any good. Life is about living for God and letting the past go. Like the apostle Paul said, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead” – Philippians 3:13. I will be praying for you.
