"CHRIST HELPED ME TO LOVE ME"

Good Evening to All!

"The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29 NKJV)

My scripture text tonight comes from John's Witness at Christ's Baptism. My question for you tonight is have you forgiven yourself for your sins? The reason I ask is a simple one.

We go to church and thank Jesus for dying on the Cross for us. We thank Him for forgiving our sins, and yet we don't forgive ourselves. We are constantly reminding ourselves of what we have done in the past so as to be careful not to let it happen again.

The problem with that is, God's Word tells us that when we sincerely repent, and ask God to forgive us, He does. He then places us "under the blood" and removed our sins as far as east is from west (Psalm 103:12). Isaiah 43:25 even says, "I, even I, am he that blotteth out they transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." There is also another verse which I remember reading, but can't place where it is at this moment, says He casts our sins out into the sea of forgetfulness.

I have a logical question for you. If God is willing to do this, to forget all our sins which we committed until we repented from them and were saved, how is he supposed to do this if we constantly bring this up to Him?

Now remember, when I say "bring this up to Him, He knows what is in our hearts, He can read our minds, and He hears our words, so we don't even have to say a word but if we keep feeling guilty about our sins, (which is what the devil wants), then how can God forget them?

Once He forgives us, they are "under the blood", meaning Jesus Christ covered our sins with His blood and God sees us for what we are now as a "new creature in Christ." Even better, He sees the finished product. He sees what we will be when He finishes working on us.

Here is what my little "book of blessings" says:

You have looked and seen my Lamb, who has taken away the sin of the World. Yet sometimes you're bent on continuing to punishing yourself and this shows me that you wonder if His sacrifice was enough to erase your record of wrong.

The blood of the Lamb of God has satisfied Me on your behalf. Rather than demand your blood, I've provided my own. Christ's sacrifice was big enough for the world and therefore big enough for you. And if my conscience is satisfied, should your's be?

This is my grand goodness to you in Christ: I do not throw your sin in your face; I take it all away. The blood of Jesus has removed everything you wish weren't true about you. All your guilt, failure, shame, and regret have been cleared away so that they no longer factor into my attitude toward you. And it is all my doing, not yours at all.

The way I see it is if God is good enough to forgive us and forget our sins to allow us into His eternal Kingdom, then what right do we have to "over-ride" His forgiveness with the guilt trip which Satan himself lays upon us? It's like we are saying that God's powerful and merciful enough to forgive us, but Satan's power over us with his guilt trip strategy is stronger.

I say "DONT LET SATAN WIN"! Love yourself as God loves you. Forgive yourself and let it be a testimony to God's goodness.


Reference : Abundant Life Day Book by Nancy Guthrie
New King James Version
King James Version (Thompson Chain Reference Bible)

Good Night to All and May God Bless!