234 – Learning to Forgive Yourself

The Bible Speaks to You: Think, Pray, Love like Jesus

234 – Do you have a hard time forgiving yourself?
Right. Join the club. It's not easy to forgive yourself. But it's something we need to do. And we can.
This week I look at several Bible characters who, in one way or another, had to come to terms with the mistakes they made and their sins.
The Bible doesn't tell us what these folks were thinking and if they ever forgave themselves or if it was enough just to feel God's forgiveness.
Here are the people I talk about this week. Do you think they ever forgave themselves? If you had done what they did, would you be able to forgive yourself?

• Samson: Did he forgive himself for being deceived by Delilah?
• King David: Did he ever regret the choices he made with Bathsheba and Uriah?
• Peter: Did he ever forgive himself for denying Jesus three times?
• Paul: Did he forgive himself for persecuting Christians before he converted?

When you have a hard time forgiving yourself, what may be going on is that you haven’t felt worthy of, accepted, or experienced God’s forgiveness of your sin, perhaps because there’s someone you need to forgive.
When you forgive, you’ll be able to accept and experience God’s forgiveness. When God has washed away your sins, even the tiniest mistake, there is nothing left to forgive, no longer a need to forgive yourself.

Wherever you are on the path of forgiveness, whether of someone else or yourself, take a moment right now to take a humble look at any situation where you need to forgive someone else or yourself.
And then…forgive.
Previous episodes on forgiveness
Episode 18: Forgiving 70 x 7: How I Forgave My 8th Grade Gym Teacher
Episode 97: Mark Sowersby - Forgiveness Brings Freedom
Show notes:
For full transcript and Bible references: thebiblespeakstoyou.com/234

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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and podcaster. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life.

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