When God Forgives—But I Can’t

In this third message in the Forgiven series, we discuss what to do when we we sincerely repent for our sins and God grants us his extravagant grace, and works through us, but we still struggle to forgive ourselves. It can be hard to forgive ourselves because: 1. Our brains replay the pain of our actions; 2. We confuse responsibility with condemnation; 3. Trauma whispers "I'm unworthy;" 4. Perfectionism makes failure feel final; 5. We trust God's grace for others, but struggle to believe in it for ourselves. There are 4 keys for unlocking self-forgiveness in our lives: 1. We must acknowledge the full severity of our actions, and accept appropriate responsibility. We choose not to deflect responsibility for paid we caused, but we also don't take on responsibility for things that were truly not our fault. 2. We accept forgiveness as part of God's plan to grow and restore us. Forgiveness is a gift, and a byproduct of God's grace and mercy on us through his generosity in giving us blessings we did not earn and withholding condemnation that we did earn. 3. We understand what happens when I we don't forgive ourselves: it makes it harder to accept God's forgiveness for us, and to forgive others, it distorts our hearts, we live complaining and comparing, and it delays our ability to heal. We address the hidden question: "why," with the understanding that God knows our natures as works in progress, and builds forgiveness into his Plan. We must also accept Jesus's sacrifice and receive what we did not earn and accept what we cannot explain. 4. We learn the lessons of the consequences of our actions, and move forward. Spoken Affirmation: Jesus's Sacrifice is good enough for me. I will forgive myself and grow!