Confident in God's Forgiveness
You don't need to walk around carrying a load of guilt. The Apostle Paul says, "Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious ideal; yet now God declares us "not guilty" of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sins." (Romans 3:23-24 TLB)
God wants to forgive you. But we need to accept God's forgiveness. We may know about God's forgiveness intellectually, but to believe it, deep down inside, accepting, in faith, that it is true. Because it is! And one thing that often blocks us from accepting forgiveness from God is that we are unable to forgive ourselves. You need to forgive yourself for your past failures and sins, for the habits and hang-ups that led you to sin. Forgive yourself! God wants you to forgive yourself. He teaches us to - "Look straight ahead with honest confidence; don't hang your head in shame." (Proverbs 4:25 TEV)
Have you ever committed a sin and asked God to forgive you, and even though you know He's forgiven you, you still feel lousy? What do you do in that situation? Do you go back and ask Him to forgive you again? Confess it again, over and over? No. You only have to confess a sin one time and it's forgiven. But you may have to forgive yourself a hundred times and say it over and over until it sinks in: "God has forgiven me. It's over."
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