Set Yourself Free

Setting yourself free by forgiving yourself may be your greatest battle.

You live in bondage to something or many things you did in your past.

You know God has forgiven you.

You know others have forgiven you.

But you just can't forgive yourself.

You live in regret for things you have done.

You live in shame for things you have done.

You live in guilt for things you have done.

You are mad at yourself.

You wish you could go back and do things differently.

But you can't.

So you relive these regretful decisions every day.

Consequently, the shame, guilt, and anger resurfaces.

They produce sadness and depression in you.

You feel you must punish yourself for what you did.

You tell yourself you do not deserve to forgive yourself.

You tell yourself you do not deserve to be happy.

I want you to know you are not alone.

All of us wish we could go back and make different decisions.

But we can't.

You may say, "But you don't know what I did. My sins, failures, and choices are so much worse than others. If you only knew."

You would be surprised to know that you are just like the rest of us...flawed people who have failed greatly.

And yes...I don't know what you have done.

What I do know, is there is nothing you have done that is greater than God's love for you...nothing.

His love is greater than your worse sin.

He knows everything, and he loves you.

He is not ashamed of you or angry with you.

So what do we do?

What we can do is forgive ourselves for the past and move forward into the future, making better decisions from this day forward.

Forgiveness is not a feeling.

Forgiveness is not something that is deserved or earned.

Forgiveness is free, purchased for us by Jesus at the cross.

Jesus took our regrets...our sins...upon himself at the cross.

By faith, we extend forgiveness to ourselves.

We choose to forgive ourselves.

But someone may say, "I don't deserve to forgive myself."

But remember, forgiveness is not something we deserve but something we freely give ourselves because of what Jesus did on the cross.

When you forgive yourself, you are valuing the blood of Jesus.

When you forgive yourself, you are saying "Thank you" to Jesus.

When you forgive yourself, you are taking what Jesus purchased for you...forgiveness...and giving it to yourself.

So by faith, forgive yourself...and when the regret comes into your mind, demanding you dwell on what you did, choose to dwell upon what Jesus did for you on the cross.

Choose to dwell on God's love for you.

Tell yourself, "God loves me and has forgiven me, and I have forgiven myself."

Then move forward in your day, focusing on your new life in Christ and making decisions that you will proud of from this point forward.

Set yourself free today by forgiving yourself.