Why do we need to forgive ourselves? I don’t know if you are like me but sometimes I avoid the things that take more work than they seem to be worth. But maybe that’s the key….it IS worth it. Even more so, perhaps it’s crucial.
Let’s continue to look at self-forgiveness.
1) God says I have to. The second greatest commandment Jesus states is to love my neighbor as myself. Mark 12: 30,” and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. 31: The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
Everything that applies to loving everybody else applies to me, too. Put that next to the part about forgiving your neighbor seventy times seven times — in other words, as many times as someone sins against me—I am stuck with forgiving myself every darn time I mess up. Every time!
2) If Bible verses themselves don’t convince you, look at the why that underlies those passages of Scripture. Author Stephen Arturburn says: “Did you think God just made that stuff up at random because He’s God? There’s a reason behind all of it, and the reason behind forgiveness is that if you don’t let go of the stuff you’ve done – which may indeed be awful it’s going to eat you alive. Non-forgiveness of self leads to self-loathing which leads to hateful treatment of yourself. That can manifest itself in anything from obesity to anorexia, from the kind of rage that ruins relationships to the inability to form them in the first place. Holy crow, the list of possible ramifications is endless. The way to begin to be released from them is limited to one — stop beating yourself up, accept the fact that you’ve sinned, perhaps grievously, and take whatever steps to make amends so you can move on.”
3) Think about what the Bible doesn’t say. I haven’t yet found a verse that tells me to hold onto every misdeed I’ve ever committed until I hate being inside my own skin with all that garbage. Neither have I found a passage that says no matter how many times I take it to God I still have to drag it around until it weighs me down so much I can’t even move.
So if I don’t forgive myself or my own sin…what am I going to do with it?
Like matter, it can’t be created or destroyed. It can only be turned into something else. Am I going to let it turn into a memory that discolors my life?
Tears in a Bottle 