How many times have you heard somebody say, "I have to forgive myself" or "I can't forgive myself for what I've done"? I'm here to tell you it's not up to you to forgive yourself. That's why you cannot do it!
“If you could forgive yourself, then why did Jesus die for the forgiveness of your sins?”
This quandary is one of confusion about the power of the Blood of Jesus, the grace of Father God, and the spirituality of our sins and the inability as a human being for cleaning ourselves from sin. We did not sin against ourselves (unless we have made ourselves God), so we cannot forgive our own sins. King David offers us a beautiful way of describing this inglorious problem of sin and forgiveness from a human perspective -- Psalm 51.
Psalm 51:1-6 (NIV)*
For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
You can clearly see the heart of a truly repentant man. David is broken over his horrendous decision to commit adultery/impregnate Bathsheba. Since we are sinful from birth and we ALL require a Savior to get us out of the Meal Covenant with Satan, how might we possibly have the ability to forgive ourselves? Jesus' blood was free from sin, so it was clean and could be used as an offering for sin. Our blood is filthy with sin, so it could never be used to redeem us from sin. You can't clean yourself with a filthy rag!
“In ‘The Game of Life’, we are players, Satan and his demons are our opponents, and God is our ‘Referee’. ”
He states, "my sin is always before me." That is self-condemnation. Are your sins always before you? Then you must acknowledge what David acknowledges -- God is the One we have sinned against; Him and only Him. You might disagree with that as did I when I first started getting right with God. The key word here is "sin". Sin is, ultimately, transgression of God's holy desires for our lives, not simply when we do another human being harm. God determined what is right and wrong for us as He is the Righteous Judge, not us. Mankind does not make the rules. Human beings are players of "The Game of Life", Satan and his demons are our opponent, and God is the "Referee".
Self-condemnation is a tool of the devil meant to keep us in bondage to his demons -- to prevent us from winning the game. Satan and his demons are cheaters and will do anything to defeat us! God knows and sees everything that happens, so never worry that He's missed something. He's not like those 'referees' who look the other way when someone cheats. If we appeal to Him, He will ensure the playing field will remain level. If we do not, then Satan and his demons go on without restriction. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective!"
Let your prayers be something like King David's -- powerful and effective!
Prayer
Dear Father God, I thank You that You are not seeking to condemn me, but to save me! Hallelujah! Please forgive me for believing the lie that I have to forgive myself. I am freely forgiven through the blood of Jesus and I receive Your forgiveness right now. Pour out the blood of Jesus over my sins now, Lord. I don't want to take upon myself this yoke of slavery to condemnation any longer. It is for freedom that Christ set me free, so I receive it now in faith. Thank You, Jesus, for Your loving grace and awesome sacrifice for my sins! Please forgive me for allowing the devil to rule my thoughts insomuch as to allow him the room to convince me I had to do something that isn't even possible! Forgive me, Lord for my foolishness. Free me from self-condemnation. Lead me in the Way everlasting! In Jesus' name I pray, amen!
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