FORGIVING OURSELVES

Psalm 51:1-12 (NRSV)

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.
Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.

You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.

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The psalmist wrote, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin."
- Psalm 51:1-2 (NIV)
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MY friend and I were talking one day about a young father who had left his wife and two children. She shook her head sadly and said, "I could never forgive myself if I did that." And though what we were talking about was a pitiable situation, her words were what struck me. How many times have I heard someone say, "Even if God could forgive me, I could never forgive myself"?

I thought of the apostle Peter and how he denied Jesus. (See Luke 22:61-62.) What if Peter had been so full of self-condemnation that he had languished for the rest of his life, refusing God's forgiveness because he could not forgive himself? A life of valuable witness and all that Peter did in the early church would never have come about. But Peter, despite his failures, accepted God's grace and moved forward.

Because of self-loathing, some people waste their lives in addiction to alcohol, drugs, work, relationships, or other numbing forces. Lack of forgiveness can keep us from serving God. For that reason we are called upon not only to forgive others but to forgive ourselves.

Prayer: O Lord, help us to forgive ourselves as you forgive us. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Forgiving ourselves allows us to move on in serving God.

-- Karen Cogan (New Mexico, U.S.A.)

PRAYER FOCUS: Those trapped in addiction