The workshop had ended. Most of the moms had left the room while she fidgeted with her bag. I could see she wanted to flee, but willpower and a great desire for freedom kept her feet rooted to the floor.

We sat down and she blurted out: "I've been told for years that when I forgive myself I'll be free. But I can't do it. I've tried."  I reached for her hands. "I've searched in Scripture. It's not there."  She looked up in surprise. "What do you mean?"

“Forgiving ourselves....... It's not there!”

Eller explained: “There are a multitude of scriptures that show us how to offer forgiveness to others, as well as how to receive it. But none that asks us to remove the burdens from our own hearts.”

Consider carefully 1 John 1:9 –  “If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

When it comes to the forgiveness of our sins, forgiveness is God’s work.

“For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” – Psalm 103:11-12

God loves us so much that He gave His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins (John 3:16).  “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).  Jesus bore our sins on the cross so that we might have forgiveness and be reconciled to God (1 Peter 2:24).

Concerning the woman who was struggling to forgive herself, Eller wrote: “My new friend had been trying for years to do a job that wasn't hers…  I asked her if she was willing to allow Christ to do what she had been unable to do for nearly a decade. Rather than forgive herself, would she accept the gift of forgiveness Christ so willingly offers?”

Jesus will forgive those who place their faith and trust in Him (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) in His name for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  To those who accept His offer of salvation and life, the promise of 1 John 1:9 applies (as Christians): “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We do NOT need to forgive ourselves.  That’s not our job.  Our “job” is to accept the forgiveness that God gives us through Christ.

When we receive HIS forgiveness, the guilt and the burden of our sin are no longer OURS to carry.  Jesus takes them from us and casts them as far as the east is from the west.