By, Lysandra Osterkamp
"And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin."
Hebrews 10:17-18,
It was a beautiful sunny day. I could feel the Sun on my skin and the breeze through my hair as I walked the quiet trail.
Despite the beauty outside I had the turmoil of guilt inside.
I kept asking God for forgiveness. I felt so guilty about one specific wrongdoing of my past. I knew He had forgiven me but I hadn’t forgiven myself so I felt the need to keep asking Him for forgiveness.
As I continued to walk the verse came into my mind that God forgets our sins as far as the east is from the west. It hit me that God had not remembered my sin because I firmly believe in his forgiveness and the truth of his Word.
That was when I prayed, “God, remember that one time when I said that thing to that lady that I shouldn’t have said? It was so wrong. I know you have forgotten about it because you forgave me already so I just want to remind you about it and ask for forgiveness again.” About the time I was finished praying those words, it hit me how crazy that prayer had been.
I thought, “I need help!”
To actually be reminding God of my past sins because I was confident He had forgiven me and removed them as from His memory!
That was when I realized it was time to forgive myself. It was time to let it go.
So, I prayed a different prayer. A prayer I hadn’t prayed before.
“God, help me to forgive myself for this wrongdoing. Help me to accept your forgiveness. Turn my guilt into grace. Help me to give myself the same grace I extend to others. Help me to be able to move on so that I can be the person I’m supposed to be now.”
I had to drop the weight of my past in order to move on to my future.
How about you? Do you have sins of the past that are haunting you? Is there bad behavior from your past that follows you like a cloud? If you have confessed your sin to God and asked for his forgiveness you already have it.
We must let go of past mistakes in order to have the future God wants for us. We as Christians are supposed to be like Jesus. Jesus forgave. And we know we’re supposed to forgive others but somehow it feels like forgiveness doesn’t apply to ourselves. That isn’t true! It’s OK to forgive yourself.
Accept God’s forgiveness. Let go of the sin that haunts you. Allow God to take you from guilt to grace.
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