God's Word tells us that when we repent from our sings He is faithful to forgive us. It also tells us that not only does He forgive our sins, but He forgets them too! Repented sin is as far from God's memory as the East is from the West. If you are sincerely sorry, once forgiven, God will not hold your sin against you. Forgive and forget; it's over; done deal.
The forgiveness that we are offered from God is completely free. It's grace; undeserved, yet given without strings attached. But sometimes it's not so easy for us to accept this grace. Sometimes it's harder to forgive ourselves than it is to suffer in unforgiveness. Often times we just can't do it. It's too difficult to accept that God forgets our repented sins and just wants us to get back up and try again. We make it harder on ourselves because we feel guilty and unworthy of forgiveness. And instead of receiving the fact that we are forgiven completely and our sins have been cast into the sea of forgetfulness, we revive these old sins and let them make us feel guilty. We give them free reign in our lives.
Paul tells us in Philippians 3:14 to press on towards the mark to which God has called us heavenward to receive. Press on. Don't hold back, living with the guilt of your past sins. If you look back while running, you are going to: A) not run as well because you don't have a focus; and B) not run in a straight line and probably end up running into something that is off to the side.
You won't be ready to face your current obstacles if you are looking back at your previous problems. You won't be prepared and you won't be doing your best. You have to press on. You must forgive yourslef, and then you must look ahead.
The other part to this forgiveness thing is that you must forgive others who have wronged you whether or not they have apologized. We all too often think that forgiveness is something you do after the person has apologized to you. But that isn't it. If you don't forgive the person who sins against you right away, you risk your spiritual health. It's too easy to become angry, bitter, unhappy, or depressed if you don't forgive and turn everything over to God. If you don't forgive somebody, it will not just effect you. It will draw you from Christ's purity, it will cause you to lose focus, it will make you miserable. And...if you refuse to forgive others, the Bible says that God will not forgive you when you sin. Forgiveness is a 3-part thing. You must forgive others, you must forgive yourself, and you must accept forgiveness from God and others. Do as Paul did, and press on. Don't lose focus because of unforgiveness.
-HK
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