I don't deserve forgiveness!

We know God’s will concerning forgiving others. However, there is another area of forgiveness that we have not considered: forgiving oneself.

Let’s be honest, believers sometimes mess up badly. The Holy Spirit convicts us. We repent and seek God’s cleansing as we lean on His promise to us in 1 John 1:9 NLT:

“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

It would be great if we could complete that confession with, “And they lived happily ever after.”

The truth is that many believers can’t forgive themselves. There is a voice in their head saying, “Look what you did! You are probably not even a Christian!” They believe that condemning voice, and they begin to fade into the background. Sometimes their church attendance declines because they don’t want other believers to get close to them. In their mind, they think, “If anyone knew what I did they would hate me.”

Peter did something very bad. After Jesus was arrested, Peter denied even knowing Him. Not once. Not twice. THREE times! Finally, he ran away from the scene crying. How can a person recover when they have failed God that badly?

In today’s scripture reading, Jesus made sure Peter understood their relationship was restored and that He had work for Peter to do. The last thing God wants a believer who has sinned to do is to fade into the wallpaper. He still has work for them to do.

Two important things we should all remember. First, when God forgives our sin He removes it and never holds it against us again. Not ever. (See Psalm 103:12.)

Secondly, the Bible calls Satan a liar and the father of lies. That accusing voice is not from God. Satan is called the accuser of the brethren. It is imperative we recognize the voice is coming from the enemy. We counter his lies with the truth from God’s word.

I leave you today with a verse to encourage your heart. Walk in this truth and get busy serving the Lord. Like with Peter, God is not finished with you yet.

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NLT).

The voice of sin is loud, but the voice of forgiveness is louder. -D.L. Moody