Devotional:

What do you do when you know you’ve messed up?

We’re talking about the big screw-ups—the ones where a comeback seems impossible. How do we deal when selfishness wins out and the need for immediate satisfaction costs us?

Maybe it’s the happy hour that didn’t end happily. Maybe it was the flirting that went too far. Maybe it was one lie that now threatens your career. Forgiving someone else is hard enough, but how do we forgive ourselves?

Forgiveness is always a choice. Whether we’re forgiving someone else or in need of forgiveness ourselves, the path to healing remains the same: confess, repent, and believe.

We can keep our sin secret, or we can bring it to Jesus and others, and ask for help. We can take steps to prevent falling for the same temptation twice, or we can do what we’ve always done. And, we can believe Jesus when He said, “It is finished,” or we can wake up each morning and punish ourselves for sins Jesus has already paid for.

Every day, we make the choice about whether we will live in the light or in the darkness (1 John 1:5-7). When we believe lies like, I don’t deserve forgiveness, we are deceiving ourselves.

We will never work hard enough or be nice enough to feel worthy of forgiveness. To think we can is prideful. By God’s grace we are saved, and by God’s grace we are forgiven day by day.

After repenting of our sin and receiving forgiveness from Jesus, the key to forgiving ourselves is simply to agree with God that we are forgiven! God’s grace is greater than our greatest sin. Because Jesus sacrificed His life for our sins, we are free to move past our past.

Reflect:

• Is there anything you’re struggling to forgive yourself for? If so, what is it?
• How does knowing there’s no sin too big for God to forgive change your view of your past?
• Given what you read today, what’s your next step? How can you take steps to confess, repent, and believe this week?