What do all of the following have in common? Chocolate, video tapes, cookies, alcohol, over eating, starving oneself, and cigarettes. These can all become compulsive avenues for how people can at times try to handle their guilty feelings. There is a solution, a real solution to such feelings. But although the answer does not start with you, it must end with you.
There is wonderful news which is not merely wishful thinking. It is reality. When Jesus died on the cross, his death as a sacrifice on our behalf made it possible for us to be fully cleansed and brought into fellowship with God. But unfortunately, sometimes when people receive Jesus, they still feel so guilty about their past that they do not let go of it even though God has forgiven them. Sometimes people can have difficulty forgiving themselves for the horrible things they have said or done.
I remember a young man who upon stepping out of the baptistery said, "God has forgiven me. Now I need to forgive myself." He was right.
Failure to forgive ourselves provides Satan with a powerful tool for his destructive purposes. Although God would have the Christian focus upon living the new life He has made possible, Satan can use the burden of past guilt to drag our thoughts through the mire of feeling worthless and deserving to be punished. Energy and thoughts which should be expended upon gratitude and service since we have been released from guilt will still be sucked up into an ever descending spiral of self-condemnation.
When scripture tells us to forgive as God has forgiven (Ephesians 4:29), this principle includes forgiving ourselves. Listen to how God liberates His people, "I will remember their sins no more." Hebrews 8:12 God wants His people to know they are free from the burden of sin and to live free of past guilt. Christians have no reason for lamenting over past failures. Christ's blood is more powerful than our past sins. In fact, if we have received Jesus but we refuse to let go of what we have done, in essence we would be saying, "My sin is more powerful than Jesus' blood." May we never say such a thing. No, if God has forgiven us, we are forgiven and need to let go as well.
Let's not allow Satan to use something against us which God has taken away and remembers no more. It is great when a cookie can just be a cookie, and not an ineffective and destructive way to handle feelings of self-condemnation.
Barry Newton, Copyright © 2002 (Revised 2003)
Other Resources Which May be of Interest:
We Do Not Deserve The Salvation Which Comes Through Jesus ("Praise God that It Is Not Fair")The Willingness to Forgive (We need to forgive others - a modern illustration)
Rocks in the Pond (Choices Do Have Consequences)