10 Reasons you should forgive yourself.
Reason 9, Part 2
False Guilt
Don’t place unnecessary guilt on yourself. It is not real guilt–it’s false guilt. The only guilt we should accept should only come from God. If it comes from anyone else, don’t accept it. It’s manipulation, and you should reject it immediately! False guilt comes solely from Satan. Refuse to let anyone give you a guilt trip for your past sins. Don’t let yourself, another person, or Satan keep you from honoring the blood Jesus shed on the cross for your sins. False guilt is exploring a bottomless pit that will lead you to despair. God forgives us more readily than we forgive ourselves. True guilt must be dealt with immediately from sin and offending God. If Christ has forgiven you of your sins, all that’s left is false guilt.
Grief is a deep and intense sorrow. It is very painful, and it takes a long time to get over. Those who find it difficult to forgive themselves most likely have not forgiven others. Regret is the feeling we get when it’s too late before we realize our mistake. It takes no grace to regret, but it does take grace to repent. We are naturally afraid to forgive ourselves because we tell ourselves we are responsible for our past. We often feel that God would surely require us to bear the weight of what we have done. The devil wants us to feel like this because it brings hopelessness. You must recognize his tactics immediately and rebuke him! It does not seem just that we get away with our failure as easy as that. But God says it is just. He uses that very word! In 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Susan Bolinger - Bloom Ladies Ministry
Bloom - A Process to Achieve Complete Forgiveness
