How to Forgive Yourself A Summer Series, Day 2

In order for you to be able to completely forgive yourself and others, you must first be forgiven of all your sins by Jesus Christ. How can you forgive yourself when you have never experienced true forgiveness from Jesus? He gave Himself up as a ransom for all our sins. That’s what the cross was all about. Redemption.

Only God can forgive you completely and set you free. When He does this for us, and we have obtained such incredible mercy and grace, that is when it becomes easier for us to forgive ourselves and others, and let the offense go. Why should you hang on to all that hurt towards yourself? I would rather have peace over punishment any day! If we have not forgiven ourselves, then we have not completely forgiven. If we don’t forgive ourselves, then guilt will always reside in our minds. It will never go away.

Forgiving yourself heals what is broken inside of you. When we forgive ourselves, we heal our soul, mind, and our emotions. We are letting ourselves off the hook. It’s like a free pass. Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? But that is what is so amazing about Jesus Christ. He is too good to be true, but He is true! God created you in His image, and He loves you very much.

In Matthew 22:39 it says we are not to condemn our neighbor, and if we are not to condemn our neighbor, then we should not condemn ourselves. If I don’t forgive others, I forfeit the blessing of being forgiven. Why should God require me to accept His forgiveness and command me to forgive others but close my eyes as to whether I have forgiven myself? He doesn’t! This matter of forgiving ourselves is not an option in God’s plan for us: it is something we are required to do as obedient children of our Heavenly Father.

“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matthew‬ ‭22:39‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Susan Bolinger - Bloom Ladies Ministry

Bloom - A Process to Achieve Complete Forgiveness

How to Forgive Yourself A Summer Series, Day 1

Most people find it difficult to forgive themselves for the things they have done wrong. They feel they must pay for their sins themselves, somehow. But that is something you cannot do. There must be a spotless sacrifice offered, and you and I are not spotless. Only Jesus Christ was the spotless Lamb. This becomes a vicious cycle when we can’t forgive ourselves. We feel we must pay for what we have done wrong, and then it bleeds over to where we can’t forgive others because we feel they need to pay for what they done wrong to us. We’ve got this all wrong.

Several years ago I found an amazing book called How to Forgive Ourselves – Totally, written by R.T. Kendall. After reading this book, I realized I still had unforgiveness toward myself for past failures. I grieved my heart due to regret and guilt the enemy had heaped upon me. I had allowed Satan and others to harass me in this area, but this book helped me realize none of that was from the Lord. It helped me experience another level of Jesus’ love for me I had never known. I felt closer to Him. I could literally feel His arms around me saying, “Let it go… I have. It’s all forgotten. Now go live freely and live the best life I have planned for you.” I completely embraced that, and because of that determination in my mind, I do not allow anyone else to throw up my past sins that are covered by the blood of Jesus, especially Satan! I easily put him in his place – and that is under my feet! It’s time to let yourself off the hook!

I will be sharing with you each day what this book taught me. You don’t want to miss a single day!

Susan Bolinger - Bloom Ladies Ministry

Bloom - A Process to Achieve Complete Forgiveness

The Apple of My Eye

My precious daughter, do you know how special you are to Me? If you only realized the depth of My love for you. You are the apple of My eye. Every morning I wait with anticipation of our conversations and wondering if you will invite Me in to help you make the best decisions for the day. I care about every choice you make. Even things like what you wear (is it modest), who you go to lunch with (are you in good company, are you gossiping) and even what you say to your coworkers in general conversation (are you representing Me in your words).

I desire the very best for you. Why? Because you are My greatest creation. Nature, animals, the sun, moon and stars were fun, but I created you from My heart. You matter. I don’t like it when people mistreat you because I love you so much. I desire to give you complete abundance because that’s what I do. You are the apple of My eye. I am with you every single second of your life, watching over you, keeping you. The better decisions you make for Me, the more abundance you will receive. I reward those who diligently seek Me. I’m worth it. I’m worth the time, the effort, the dedication for your reward is beyond your imagination. Why do I do all of this for you? Because you are the apple of My eye and I know you are worth it. I just wanted to remind you today how much I love you.

Susan Bolinger - Bloom Ladies Ministry