forgive yourself?

What does it mean to forgive yourself?
Do you really need to forgive yourself?
Does Scripture ever say anything about needing to forgive yourself?

Those are just a few of the things I've wondered at different times in my life. Usually in those times when I've done something I know I shouldn't have done and I'm trying to make myself pay for doing it. As futile as it is to beat yourself up over something, it is something I have done quite frequently - and still do.

Recently, I was listening to a song and was struck by a part of the chorus. The Line is from the song "Forgive Yourself" by Downhere and says: "Nothing ever frees you more than just believing that you've been forgiven." When I heard those words they stuck in my head and I found myself continuing to mull them over in the days to come. As I've thought about it more, I've started to realize that those words describe essentially what I think it means to forgive yourself.

No where in Scripture do we find anything that says we need to forgive ourselves for things. We're told to forgive others, but not told to forgive ourselves. But, that doesn't seem to really deal with the issue of what we do when we feel like we've done something "stupid" and should be punished for it.

That's where I think the words from the song portray a truth we need to hear. Usually when we feel so poorly about ourselves because of something we've done, the biggest issue is that we don't see how God could forgive us - how we could earn God's forgiveness. We feel completely unworthy of His forgiveness and subsequently struggle to accept His freely offered forgiveness. We'll confess what did, but we don't accept what is offered when we confess.

But, the truth is that we are set free when we begin to really believe we've been forgiven by God - not when we finally do enough to earn it. When we begin to make that reality a part of our thinking and our life, we find freedom. It's not so much that we need to forgive ourselves, but that we need to accept forgiveness that Jesus offers to us - even for the times we've done something really "stupid." God's forgiveness brings us freedom.

James 5:13-20 - Part 5

One last week of relfections on this passage in James 5. Previous weeks can be found here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

The final verses of James 5 say this, "My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way, will save that person from death and cover over a multitude of sins." (vs.19-20)

These verses are probably the ones in this passage I have the hardest time wrapping my head around. Parts of them make sense to me and other parts are a little more difficult. But, I guess that's often the case with Scripture.

James says that bringing someone who wanders back saves that person from death. That seems straightforward enough for me. If that person were to stay lost and not turn back to following God they would miss out on eternal life with God. So helping them turn back so that they are saved from death, makes sense.

But, the part that confuses me a bit is the part where is says that turning a person back to following God will cover a multitude of sins. I don't really understand what exactly what it means, so I really don't have anything to say about it. I guess over the years I've come to realize that it's okay to not always understand every detail of what Scripture says all the time. We shouldn't be content to stay there. We should seek to understand better each time. But we have to be okay with admitting when we jsut don't understand it.

finding your way

Road signs tell us what is coming up. Maps give us directions to get where we're going. Both are important in those times when we get lost to help us find our way again. Without them we would have a hard time getting back on track or even staying on track.

I was reminded of this while on a road trip with some friends a couple of months ago. When we missed the turn off we needed, we had to find our way back to where we wanted to go. The road signs and maps we had were what we had to find our way again.

The same is true in our spiritual lives. We need road signs and maps to guide us along the path of life and bring us back when we wander off course. In our spiritual lives, those road signs and maps come from reading and studying Scripture, from spending time in prayer talking to and listening to God. That is how we get our directions and our maps to be able to walk the path we're called to walk as disciples of Christ. Without these things to guide us, we won't be able to stay on course or find our way when we get lost.

How are you doing at knowing the road signs and maps you need to follow the path God has for you?