...Forgive Yourself

& TAKE HOLD OF YOUR NEW BEGINNING!

BY JOYCE MEYER

…Therefore, have I hope and expectation: It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:21-23).

We serve such a loving, compassionate God. And when we mess up, He is quick to forgive when we confess and repent for the wrongs we do. In fact, He wipes the slate completely clean- erasing from His mind all memory of whatever we have done. Hebrews 8:12 put it this way: “I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

Yet too often we are not so kind to ourselves. Though God has forgotten and moved on, we’re still rolling past mistakes over and over in our minds, unable to accept the grace that would free us to move forward with the life of joy and peace He wants us to have. We think we’re supposed to pay and pay and pay for whatever we did wrong. And if something terrible was done to us, we think we’re somehow unworthy and undeserving of a first-class life.

That was certainly trust for me. For years I felt bad about myself, both because of the sexual abuse I experienced in my childhood, and for the anger and bitterness that made me so hard to live with as an adult. I used to say I didn’t feel right if I didn’t feel wrong. Guilt was my constant companion.

Even when God showed me that I didn’t have to keep paying for my past mistakes, I continued to think it was wrong to feel good. I couldn’t just relax and enjoy my life. The only time I felt okay was when I was working and producing something. I found my significance in what I did and what other people thought about me. It hadn’t yet sunk into my heart that my identity and significance came from God alone, who loved me totally, regardless of what I did or didn’t do, or what had happened to me as a child.

But over time, little by little, Christ transformed my performance-based mindset. Not only did He renew my mind, but He healed me completely of the past and taught me another critical lesson: No matter who you are, what you’ve done or what has happened in the past, you can have a new beginning. It’s never too late to get a fresh start when you have Jesus.

THE PROMISE THAT SETS YOU FREE. “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices (Hebrews 10:16-18)

God has made a promise to all those who submit their lives to Him. Where there is remission (or repentance), there is no longer any offering to be made for sin. It’s done! You don’t need to keep feeling guilty. When Jesus paid the price for your sins, it was so precious and such a complete gift that there is no need for any other offerings to cover them. Yet we think we should keep beating ourselves up because it can’t be that easy. But it is!

CLAIM YOUR NEW BEGINNING! When you forgive yourself, not only do you get to start enjoying you life, but you are finally giving God room to transform you from the inside out so He can fulfill His purposes for your life. You’re a new creature in Christ! Celebrate your fresh start by changing your focus from past hurts to present blessings. Be thankful for what He’s done and look for opportunities to be His representative in the world.

And don’t think He can’t use someone like you to do something important. If He can use me, an ordinary housewife from Fenton, Missouri, He can certainly use you!

For [simply] consider your own call, brethren; not many [of you were considered to be] wise according to human estimates and standards, not many influential and powerful, not many of high and noble birth (1 Corinthians 1:26 AMP)

The enemy wants you to feel small and like you are not good enough to do anything significant. But God deliberately choose people the world might consider unimportant to accomplish amazing things on His behalf.

I want to encourage you to be confident in who you are in Christ. Wake up each day and say out loud, “I am a child of God…I am forgiven…I am a new creature… I have a good future ahead of me. I may have had a lousy start in life, but I’m having a great finish!”

God has a good destiny planned for you. Don’t waste another minute stuck in the cold, dead past. Your new beginning is waiting. Now, go out and claim it!