Matthew 6:14-15
Forgiving Others
14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
God Will Forgive and Forget Our Sins
31 “The time is coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares the LORD.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the LORD.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
Matthew 7:12
Do Unto Others
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Jesus often teaches on the subject of forgiveness...
Jesus makes it quite clear in His teaching on prayer that we are are to forgive others, if we expect to be forgiven...
Jesus teaches us to forgive others...That much is clear...However, there is some controversy on whether we should forgive ourselves of certain things, deeds, and acts...The Bible does not say to forgive yourself...If we can forgive others many think, things will take care of themselves and then things will be alright...This is true in many cases...But often we get personally hung up and stuck in not being able to forgive ourselves...And often, it is sometimes harder (for some) to forgive themselves, than it is for them to forgive others...We can hold on to this not forgiving ourselves and in doing so we can bring on guilt and shame...When we have this guilt and shame and do not forgive ourselves, we continue to punish ourselves...
I think that Jesus wants us to forgive ourselves...In Matthew, He tells us in everything we do, do to others what you would have them do to you...This even sums up the Law and the Prophets...He, at least to me, is saying (at least in an indirect way) you do not have to hold yourself more accountable than you do others...We sometimes set a higher standard for ourselves than we do others...In Jeremiah we are taught that God at least forgets our sins, after He forgives us...God loves us, and He wants to forgive us...We should learn to forgive and forget and move toward God, after we forgive others and/or ourselves... It may be, if we cannot forgive ourselves, we may find it harder and harder to forgive others...And what do we gain, by holding on and not forgiving ourselves of those things that we need to forgive...
We, I think, must learn to forgive ourselves as much as we do forgive others...And for both types of forgiveness, we should be doing it as Jesus taught for the very same reasons...We want our mind, our bodies, and our Spirit to move past any bitterness, any guilt, and any blames that are in the way...God wants to forgive, so why can't we do the very same as He teaches?...