My Grandpa passed away in 1954 from a stroke. I’ve been told that he was working in the woods when he had the stroke. They got him inside, but he did not recover and passed very quickly. Fast forward to the late 90s and my Daddy telling me that he blamed himself for his Daddy dying. Something about his Daddy wanting to go somewhere with him, and he didn’t know. Somehow he had worked up the blame in his head and had held onto it for thirty plus years. He could not find a way to forgive himself even though he probably had no fault at all.
This can be us as well. We go to God and ask forgiveness for something. God will forgive us when we sincerely ask. We may have even gone to the person offended, asked for and received forgiveness. Then weeks and maybe even years later we are still praying and asking for God to forgive us for the same thing. Why? Because we have never forgiven ourselves. We hold onto the shame and guilt, not releasing ourselves from the bondage that it has us in. We feel like we deserve to suffer for our wrong.
If Jesus paid the price for your sin and forgave you, then what right do you have to not forgive yourself? Is His blood not enough to cover your wrongdoing? Of course it is. Jesus has released you, the other person has released you, now it’s time to forgive yourself. If the other person did not forgive you, you still have to forgive yourself. Now this may sound crazy to some, but do this. Find a mirror, stand there and look at yourself and tell yourself, “I forgive you.”
Romans 8:33-34 KJV 33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.