"What does the Bible say about forgiving yourself?"

"What does the Bible say about forgiving yourself?"

Answer: Never does the Bible talk about the idea of “forgiving yourself.” We are told to forgive others when they trespass against us and seek forgiveness. When we ask for God’s forgiveness based upon Christ having already paid for our sins and we having trusted in Him as Savior and Lord, He forgives us. It is as simple as that (Romans 5:1; 8:1; 1 John 1:9). However, as with being released from the slavery to sin as spoken of in Romans 6-8, even though we are released from the bondage to sin, we can still choose to wallow in it and “act” as though we are not freed from it. Likewise with guilt, we can accept the fact that we are forgiven in Christ or we can believe the devil’s lie that we are still guilty and therefore should feel guilty.

The Bible says that when God forgives us, He remembers our sins no more" (Jeremiah 31:34). This does not mean that the all-knowing God forgets because He forgives us. Rather, He chooses not to bring up our sin to Himself or others. Even so, we often cannot forget the sin that we have committed in the past, but we can choose to not dwell on them. When our former sins come to mind, we can choose to dwell upon them (with the resulting guilty feelings), or we can choose to fill our minds with thoughts of the awesome God who forgave us of them and thank and praise Him for it (Philippians 4:8).

Remembering our sins is beneficial because it reminds us of how much God has forgiven us for, and makes it easier for us to forgive others (Matthew 18:21-35). Remembering that our sins are forgiven should make it easier to not look down upon others because of their sin (Matthew 7:1-5; 1 Timothy 1:15). It should make us loathe sin for the future because we have experienced its lasting effects (Romans 6:21). Forgiveness should remind us of the great Savior we have who forgave us undeserving though we will always be and draw us closer in loving obedience to Him (Romans 5:10; Psalm 103:2-3,10-14). God will allow our sin to come to mind (Satan may intend it for an evil purpose, but God allows it for a good purpose), but He wants us to accept His forgiveness and rejoice in His grace. So the next time your former sins come to mind, “change the channel” by choosing to dwell upon His mercies (you might make a list of verses to use to prime the pump of praise) and think about how we should loathe sin.

Recommended Resource: The Gift of Forgiveness by Charles Stanley