I've just finsihed a book by Tim Keller, called “The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness.” Not “self-forgiveness,” but “self-forgetfulness.” In a nutshell, self-forgetfulness means “not thinking ‘more of myself’ or thinking ‘less of myself’, but thinking of myself less.” And that brings freedom from painful self-consciousness, criticism, comparison and competition.
There is a popular, psychologically-oriented, teaching these days that says people have to forgive themselves. Does the Bible say we should forgive ourselves? Not directly. But if forgiving ourselves means accepting God’s forgiveness, then yes. Continuing to harbor feelings of guilt or shame for things we’ve done in the past after we’ve asked God to forgive us is an indication we haven’t really accepted His forgiveness.
When we confess our sins HE is faithful and just to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9). HE has power to forgive—we don’t. If we’ve confessed our sin, the issue of forgiveness is settled. What's more, our sin is forgotten. All that remains is moving on. If I had to forgive myself for all the failures in my life, I’m afraid I would find myself unforgiveable. Thank God, forgiveness is not based on feelings—His or mine!
Good morning Dr. Greg,
ReplyDeleteGood post! Thank you! It was Tillich (existential theologian) who said that one of the most difficult things is to accept that we can be accepted by God. If there is a strong enough sense of knowledge of self and the holiness of God, that assertion is true.
It has been my experience that there are at least two dimensions to forgiveness. One is the forensic declaration of God, "You are forgiven." The other is the experiential dimension when I feel forgiven. To me, the distinction is important, because it helps to explain that God's forgiveness is not conditional, as could be interpreted from, "if we forgive others their trespasses, God will forgive us," but rather as we forgive others more, we experience God's forgiveness more. The reality remains the same. Believers are forgiven. But believers also control the experiential faucet. When a believer tells me, "I don't feel forgiven by God," the first step is to study what scripture declares about God's forgiveness. If the feeling remains, then that becomes the prod for me to determine where horizontal unforgiveness remains. In the past, I thought I could hold a grudge and still experience complete peace with God. I found out that this was not true. Once I began to liberally forgive others more, I began to experience the forgiveness of God more, and have come to a place where I believe that God can choose to forget my trespasses.
I have since experienced God's grace and love more when I extend grace, mercy, and love horizontally. God is forgiving, loving, merciful, and graceful to me all the time (that is the truth). But I experience God's signature on those activities more when I am more graceful, merciful, loving, and forgiving (that is my experience of the truth).
Godspeed!
Larry Q
To the faithful He shows Himself faithful, to the blameless He shows Himself blameless, to the pure He shows Himself pure (Ps. 18:26)
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