"Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord" -- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Psalm 32:5
I have always been in awe of the inexplicable ability of God to forgive sin. I mean, He has the ability to forgive it all. Murder. Rape. Child abuse (I, myself, find this one near unforgivable). Adultery. Lying. Laziness. You name it, He can forgive it.
I just find that amazing! It is a part of God's nature to be forgiving. Knowing that God is capable of hearing the confessions and prayers of a whole entire world all at one time, I imagine that He is forgiving someone throughout every second of the day, many times over!
I find God's capacity to forgive so astounding because I'm reminded daily of my incapability to forgive. Just like God, I, too, am given the opportunity to forgive on a daily basis. My spouse, my children, co-workers, the ridiculously slow driver in front of me on the highway, or the inconsiderate server at a restaurant. However, I have found through the years that the hardest person for me to forgive is . . . ME.
You see, I have heard so many sermons on forgiving someone who has wronged you that I could probably recite most of Matthew 18 to you in my sleep. I can even graciously accept the forgiveness of our loving Father whenever I bring my own sins before Him. The one thing that I have had to learn to do through the years is extend forgiveness to myself.
I have been known to let sins of years gone by infiltrate and haunt my thoughts. They have interfered in my relationships with people I dearly love, but ultimately they have impeded the growth in my relationship with God. I think that my unforgiveness towards myself was my personal way of showing God that I really was sorry for the things I had done. In a way, I was trying to earn His forgiveness (which I had already been freely given) by trying to continually prove that I was sorry.
Then one day, it was like God flipped on a light switch in my soul and I quickly saw that my guilt had become my idol. My inability to move past the sins of days gone by had become a hindrance to my relationship with God. I was allowing that one area of my life to stand in the way of me being totally surrendered to Him.
David, like all of us, had much to be forgiven for. His words in Psalm 32 show us his heart and the guilt that he had harbored. Having been called by God to serve in such an important and lofty position, it would have been easy for David to compare the magnitude of his sin to those around him and be engrossed with an immeasurable amount of guilt. Yet, when he sought forgiveness from God, God not only forgave him of the sins he had committed, but of the guilt that goes along with those sins, as well.
Hebrews 10:22 says:
"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water."
There is no freedom in a guilty conscience and Christ came to give us freedom from the bondage of sin. Carrying around guilt for the sake of proving something to God does nothing but hinder you from being an effective tool for the Kingdom of God.
I pray that if you are allowing the guilt of past sins to stand between you and a fruitful relationship with God, that you will allow Him to take that idol of guilt away today. He knows how sorry you are. Now forgive yourself and don't allow the devil to manipulate your conscience anymore. Find freedom in forgiving yourself!
I have always been in awe of the inexplicable ability of God to forgive sin. I mean, He has the ability to forgive it all. Murder. Rape. Child abuse (I, myself, find this one near unforgivable). Adultery. Lying. Laziness. You name it, He can forgive it.
I just find that amazing! It is a part of God's nature to be forgiving. Knowing that God is capable of hearing the confessions and prayers of a whole entire world all at one time, I imagine that He is forgiving someone throughout every second of the day, many times over!
I find God's capacity to forgive so astounding because I'm reminded daily of my incapability to forgive. Just like God, I, too, am given the opportunity to forgive on a daily basis. My spouse, my children, co-workers, the ridiculously slow driver in front of me on the highway, or the inconsiderate server at a restaurant. However, I have found through the years that the hardest person for me to forgive is . . . ME.
You see, I have heard so many sermons on forgiving someone who has wronged you that I could probably recite most of Matthew 18 to you in my sleep. I can even graciously accept the forgiveness of our loving Father whenever I bring my own sins before Him. The one thing that I have had to learn to do through the years is extend forgiveness to myself.
I have been known to let sins of years gone by infiltrate and haunt my thoughts. They have interfered in my relationships with people I dearly love, but ultimately they have impeded the growth in my relationship with God. I think that my unforgiveness towards myself was my personal way of showing God that I really was sorry for the things I had done. In a way, I was trying to earn His forgiveness (which I had already been freely given) by trying to continually prove that I was sorry.
Then one day, it was like God flipped on a light switch in my soul and I quickly saw that my guilt had become my idol. My inability to move past the sins of days gone by had become a hindrance to my relationship with God. I was allowing that one area of my life to stand in the way of me being totally surrendered to Him.
David, like all of us, had much to be forgiven for. His words in Psalm 32 show us his heart and the guilt that he had harbored. Having been called by God to serve in such an important and lofty position, it would have been easy for David to compare the magnitude of his sin to those around him and be engrossed with an immeasurable amount of guilt. Yet, when he sought forgiveness from God, God not only forgave him of the sins he had committed, but of the guilt that goes along with those sins, as well.
Hebrews 10:22 says:
"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water."
There is no freedom in a guilty conscience and Christ came to give us freedom from the bondage of sin. Carrying around guilt for the sake of proving something to God does nothing but hinder you from being an effective tool for the Kingdom of God.
I pray that if you are allowing the guilt of past sins to stand between you and a fruitful relationship with God, that you will allow Him to take that idol of guilt away today. He knows how sorry you are. Now forgive yourself and don't allow the devil to manipulate your conscience anymore. Find freedom in forgiving yourself!
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