forgiving yourself

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! (1 Corinthians 10:12)
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:1-2)

Why is it so hard to forgive yourself of things you have done wrong?

In a lot of ways, it is easier to forgive others. In comparison to forgiving yourself, forgiving others is amazingly easy.

The reason is probably because you don't have to live with the pain and anguish of having committed their sin. With someone else's sin, you can stand objectively apart and do something that is good.

But, forgiving yourself, that is something totally different.

When you commit a sin, you have placed an awesome barrier between yourself and your God; you have made a potential separation of yourself from his grace. You have seen a side of yourself that you would just as soon not have seen. That's one of the side-effects of sin: your self-image suffers. You know deep down in your heart what you are capable of doing.

Even the great apostle Paul had this problem. He found it hard to forgive himself for what he had done wrong in his past. In his case, it was persecution and imprisonment of Christians, the very people he became a part of later in life.

He brought it up many times in amazement that God would forgive such transgressions. He even called himself the "worst of sinners". And he was, at least to himself. He knew his past, he knew his problems. No matter how others may have lifted him up as an apostle, he still knew what he had been capable of. It amazed him that Jesus could see past that and save him.

We can use that knowledge of our own sins to the glory of God if we will but let ourselves. The knowledge that God has saved us, even though we have done terrible things in the past, makes us aware of his grace -- for ourselves as well as for others.

It should make us compassionate and caring. If it could happen to us, as righteous as we may have thought ourselves, then how can we be so intolerant of others' failings.

As Paul himself said, So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall.

We remember that since God forgave us, we have to forgive others. But we also have to forgive ourselves and do better next time.