Forgiveness starts with you
Self-forgiveness is often overlooked...
Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash
“Forgive us our sins…”
It’s a small line in The Lord’s Prayer, but one that probably doesn’t get the consideration it deserves.
Because, here’s the tricky thing about forgiveness: it starts by forgiving yourself.
You cannot truly experience forgiveness until you have asked for forgiveness…but you can’t even do that until you get to a place of genuine repentance for what you may have done.
How can you offer forgiveness to someone else when you haven’t experienced what it feels like to be forgiven?
At the end of the day, when people feel they know and understand they have been forgiven for their sins…to accept that fact, is to also forgive yourself.
At least a bit.
“I can never forgive myself…”
“I would never forgive myself if…”
These are phrases that need to be wiped from our vocabulary.
Because accepting forgiveness means you have to forgive yourself, too.
My prayer for today
Our Father, I suck at a lot of things. And I know you have forgiven me of any of my sins the moment I ask, and I hope that you can help me feel that forgiveness for myself as well. Amen.
Remember
If you know you are forgiven, then you need to be able to forgive yourself, too. If Jesus can forgive you, then so can you. Take time in prayer to confess and ask forgiveness, but also ask God to help you forgive yourself, too.