Our theme for this month: “Mistakes”
Our Bible verse for today: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Since God has forgiven you, you should forgive yourself.”
1 John 1:9 is probably one of the greatest verses in the Bible. Every Christian needs to have this one committed to memory. If we confess our sins, God forgives us of our sins. There’s no more to it than that. God doesn’t hold a grudge. God doesn’t nurse bitterness and resentment against those who have sinned against Him but who have since asked for forgiveness. We confess, God forgives, and that’s the end of it.
So if God is so willing to forgive us, why are we so unwilling to forgive ourselves? This is a big problem for many of us. We allow a sense of guilt over past mistakes to linger in the back of our mind as it quietly and subtly poisons our thinking and colors our personality. There’s a sense of despair and regret that never entirely goes away.
But God doesn’t want us to live like that. He doesn’t want us to spend our lives shackled to past mistakes, never experiencing the joy of complete forgiveness and the freedom to move forward. Yes we should be sorry for our mistakes. And yes we should learn from them and resolve to avoid those mistakes in the future. And yes we do need to seek forgiveness – from God and from others, but then we need to let it go and move on.
The past is past and it cannot be changed. Living in the past, and allowing ourselves to be haunted by our past mistakes, is a sure recipe for doom and gloom, despair and depression. If you have confessed your sins then God has forgiven you for your sins. Now it’s time to let it go and get on with life. Since God has forgiven you, you need to forgive yourself.
God Bless,
Oak Hill Baptist Church 