Self-forgiveness. We've all heard about it. Many Christian motivational speaker talk about it. Sometimes we think we need it. But there's just one problem with it.
It doesn't work!
You cannot forgive yourself. Forgiveness doesn't work that way. It is inter-personal, not intra-personal. You can deny guilt or reason it away, but it won't go away, and that is not real forgiveness.
Look at it this way: You break my computer. Two things can happen. 1) I can demand that you pay me for a new computer or get me a new one. 2) I can forgive you and pay for a new one myself, releasing you from any payments I could require of you.
Which one is forgiveness? The second one, of course. But you can't forgive yourself. You could deny that you did it, pretend it never happened. You could also excuse yourself. Maybe I was a jerk who you thought deserved it. Again, however, that is not forgiveness.
Forgiveness is when someone offers to take the punishment that you deserve in your place. You obviously can't do that. I can't do that. So, in the face of overwhelming guilt, what can people do?
The only thing I've found that washes away guilt completely, never to return, is the forgiveness of God. Of Christ. All I have to do, indeed all I can do, is accept it. Fully and completely. Denial and excuses work for only so long until you figure out that they haven't absolved you of any guilt. In fact, they make it worse at times.
What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
His blood. The symbol of ultimate forgiveness. He washes away our sins everything that makes us feel guilty, and refuses to ever hold it against us again. All we have to do is humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness.
This is all my Righteousness: Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.
Holy is He and worthy of praise.
It doesn't work!
You cannot forgive yourself. Forgiveness doesn't work that way. It is inter-personal, not intra-personal. You can deny guilt or reason it away, but it won't go away, and that is not real forgiveness.
Look at it this way: You break my computer. Two things can happen. 1) I can demand that you pay me for a new computer or get me a new one. 2) I can forgive you and pay for a new one myself, releasing you from any payments I could require of you.
Which one is forgiveness? The second one, of course. But you can't forgive yourself. You could deny that you did it, pretend it never happened. You could also excuse yourself. Maybe I was a jerk who you thought deserved it. Again, however, that is not forgiveness.
Forgiveness is when someone offers to take the punishment that you deserve in your place. You obviously can't do that. I can't do that. So, in the face of overwhelming guilt, what can people do?
The only thing I've found that washes away guilt completely, never to return, is the forgiveness of God. Of Christ. All I have to do, indeed all I can do, is accept it. Fully and completely. Denial and excuses work for only so long until you figure out that they haven't absolved you of any guilt. In fact, they make it worse at times.
What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
His blood. The symbol of ultimate forgiveness. He washes away our sins everything that makes us feel guilty, and refuses to ever hold it against us again. All we have to do is humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness.
This is all my Righteousness: Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.
Holy is He and worthy of praise.
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