I screw up every day! What a surprise, huh? I needed the article you sent me on forgiveness (Psalm 3). I feel bad and ask for forgiveness as soon as I mess up. I know the Lord forgives me, I just have a hard time forgiving myself! I never want to hurt my Father’s feelings, or cause Him shame, but sometimes I act before I think. Am I the only one who does this?
Not by a long shot. We all do it. And for those of us who derive our self esteem from our performance, it’s especially hard to forgive ourselves. We know better, and yet we still sin. I have to constantly remind myself that it’s part of my nature. It’s a built in flaw I have, a self-defeating mechanism. If I didn’t have it I wouldn’t need a savior. But Satan uses it to work me over, trying to discourage and defeat me.
Like God does with all his children, I have to separate my behavior from who I am in Christ. And who am I? A new creation, as righteous as God Himself (2 Cor 5:17,21) As Paul said, “It’s not I who sins, it’s the sin nature that dwells within me.” (Romans 7:20)
I can’t rescue myself, but I have a Savior, and He has rescued me. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2).