The One I Struggle To Forgive

January 14, 2015 | By Chuck

For several years now I've studied and preached on forgiveness. In fact, it may be that I've given a little extra time over the years to the topic of forgiveness. I believe that forgiveness is so essential in our lives today. Everyone and I mean everyone, is in need of God's forgiveness. Jesus said if we want forgiveness from God we must be willing to forgive those who sin against us. "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."(Mt.6:14-15) I do pretty well practicing Jesus" teaching on forgiveness. I consider myself a very forgiving person and not one who is likely to hold a grudge. However, over the years there has been one individual that I honestly have a hard time forgiving. I've known this man all of my life. He's a good hearted, God-loving Christian but at times he says and does things that he knows he shouldn't and I struggle forgiving him. Okay, the man I struggle to forgive is me. I don't have a problem forgiving anyone who hurts me but when I mess up and sin, I struggle to forgive myself. So what's the point? Why be so transparent and share this with you? It's really simple. Because I believe there are many Christians who believe in and accept God's forgiveness and are willing to forgive others but, like me, struggle to forgive themselves. Bottom line is no matter what we've done, we must be able to forgive ourselves and forget whatever it was so that we can embrace the future and serve the Lord with a clear conscience. Satan so desperately wants us to remember our sins and failures in hopes that we'll give up on God because of our struggle to forgive ourselves. "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners- of whom I am the worst."(I Tim.1:15) The apostle Paul had to forgive himself of his past sins so he could move on and be productive for the Lord. I believe he did just that. "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."(Phil.3:13-14) Accept God's forgiveness, forgive others and forgive yourself.