JESUS OUR TRUE IDENTITY PART 7

Forgiving Ourselves

 

In our last blog, we rejoiced in the fact ALL of our sins were forgiven… ALL GONE! The blood of Jesus cleansed us from ALL of our sins past, present, and future before we were ever born. Adam sinned and disobeyed our Father then brought sin upon the whole world. Our Lord Jesus, because of his obedience to the death on the cross, freed mankind from the penalty of sin and death then brought righteousness to all who believe in Him and accept Him as the substitute for their sins. What an AMAZING TRUTH to experience! We understand as believers, we don’t have to sin anymore. Sin is no longer our master, Jesus IS. When we turn to Him when Sin knocks at the door, He is the power to say, “No.!” Also, being free from sin, we can forgive others who hurt, reject, abuse or neglect us. We FORGIVE because we have been FORGIVEN.

 

In today’s blog, I want to focus on ‘Forgiving Ourselves.’ I am not sure why we find this step more difficult than forgiving others. This was hard for me too. When Father took me through forgiving others years ago, He said to me, “Now my daughter, it is time to forgive yourself.” The flesh stood its ground within me and wouldn’t allow my soul to bow down to my Father. The flesh deceived me, but I knew if I let myself off the hook, then the flesh loses its power to rule and reign through me. Keeping me in bondage to unforgiveness of myself was one of its chains it had in my life. I wrestled with that monster for days. I knew I wanted to be free, but looking at my some of my past regrets in the mirror again, I couldn’t. One day Jesus spoke to me and told me, “I know everything you have ever done, every thought you ever conceived, every feeling you ever felt, and every one you ever hurt. I was there, but I loved you then, and I love you now. Forgive yourself, let it go, let me wash it away.” How can you say “no” to someone who is so loving, gentle, and kind as He? So, I got my pen and paper out and wrote my painful regrets, the people I hurt, the sins I remembered, and those circumstances that brought me guilt and shame. Jesus reminded me of my past and how lost I was and how I was trying to get my needs met (even as a believer) by any means I could. Sin and the flesh were my masters, we worked together to ensure I found a temporary fix because they could never give me a permanent fix, only Jesus could restore and fix my soul.

 

Romans 3:23 (Amplified) – All have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God.

There is not one human being who has never sinned or pleased our Father fully, except our Lord Jesus. For this reason, He says to us:

 

 

Hebrews 4:16 (Amplified) -Therefore let us [with privilege] approach the throne of grace [that is, the throne of God’s gracious favor] with confidence and without fear, so that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find [His amazing] grace to help in time of need [an appropriate blessing, coming just at the right moment].

 

Today’s exercise is very similar to our last exercise. If you want to be cleansed and made whole again from the pain of your past and present. Ask Jesus, since He lives in your heart, to unlock the doors of your soul where unforgiveness, regrets, guilt, and shame from your painful past lives. When He brings an incident to your mind, here is what you do. (Remember, the voice of the flesh and the enemy want to keep you imprisoned to them. They don’t want you to be free to allow Christ to live freely in your life.) The enemy accuses you of what you should have, could have, or would have done. Or IF only… to keep you bound.

 

 Step 1 – On the top of a piece of paper on one side, write “Things I have done that still brings regret, guilt, and shame,” on the other side write “People I have hurt I still feel bad about.”

 

Step 2 -Trust the Lord to hold you and keep you during this process of remembering. There may be things too painful to look at right now. Get someone you can trust to walk and talk with you.

 

Step 3 – Write a letter to yourself recalling these events.

 

Step 4 – At the end of the letter when you are done, here is where your WILL moves you from the pain to the Arms of Christ. Write “YOUR NAME….. I FORGIVE YOU AND I RELEASE YOU INTO THE HANDS OF MY LORD. I TRUST HIM TO HEAL ME AND LOVE ME. IF HE ALLOWS ME TO FALL SHORT AGAIN, I CHOOSE TO FORGIVE MYSELF AGAIN. HE IS MY LORD AND WILL HEAL EVERY WOUND AND SCAR I BRING TO HIM BECAUSE HE LOVES ME FOREVER.” AMEN

 

Step 5 – Write the date you did the exercise at the top of the pages, then TEAR THEM UP, piece by piece. The date is important for your mind to affix a date and milestone when you forgave and allowed Jesus to come into the rooms of your heart where pain and unforgiveness had you bound.

 Important note: You may not FEEL any changes at first. The Will is the leader of the soul, the Emotions were created to follow its lead; Emotions will catch up eventually.

 

 Prayer: Thank you, Papa, for cleansing me from the guilt and shame I carried from my past. ALL GONE!! Covered and washed by your blood! I am FREE, thank you so much, Lord Jesus!