When God Forgives He Forgets; We Need To Forgive Ourselves & Forget As Well

I John 1:8-9 & Psalm 103:12

We all make mistakes; when we ask God to forgive us, we need to take off the cloak of regret and shame and put on His cloak of forgiveness. We will look and feel a whole lot better.

Soul Food

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

- I John 1:8,9

“……as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

- Psalm 103:12

Soul Search

• Can you remember a time that you said or did something wrong and immediately wished you could “rewind” and “re-record” the moment over again?

• Do you seem to have a tendency to say or do the wrong thing?
  If you do have that tendency have you asked yourself why that is?
  Do you have any ideas for what the remedy for that might be?  

• How deep do you feel it when you mess up?
  Do you find that you are hard on yourself and punish yourself when you’ve messed up?
  What does it look like when you’re punishing yourself?

Soul Moves

• While you can’t rewind and re-record moments, you can make efforts to repair situations.
  Ask God to show you if there are wrongs you have done, including hurtful words you have said, that He wants you to repair.
  Ask Him in prayer how He would have you do that and listen for His instructions.

• Some of us lack in what is called emotional intelligence (EI).
  This doesn’t mean we aren’t smart but it does mean that we don’t read relationships and social cues very well.
  Lack of EI can cause us to often say or do the wrong thing.
  Ask God to make you more sensitive and wise to the situations you’re in and to the people around you.

• If you’re hard on yourself and punish yourself when you fail and make mistakes, remember that God isn’t hard on those who confess their wrong-doing and ask for His forgiveness.
  Ask God to help you let go of things once you’ve confessed and asked for forgiveness – firstly from God and possibly from those you’ve hurt as well.