WEBVTT 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:12.820 Today's topic is forgiveness. But not just forgiving 00:00:12.820 --> 00:00:16.339 others, forgiving ourselves. It's so important 00:00:16.339 --> 00:00:18.760 to forgive others, and it's also so important 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:21.359 to forgive ourselves. Because if we don't forgive 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:24.980 ourselves, how can we forgive others? And we 00:00:24.980 --> 00:00:27.780 may know the fact that Jesus forgives us, but 00:00:27.780 --> 00:00:30.379 it's difficult for us to forgive ourselves. The 00:00:30.379 --> 00:00:34.759 first scripture today is 2 Corinthians 5;17 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:38.119 through 18. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, 00:00:38.219 --> 00:00:40.960 he is a new creation. The old has passed away, 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:44.600 behold, the new has come. All this is from God, 00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:47.439 who through Christ reconciled us to himself and 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:52.119 gave us the ministry of reconciliation. Our redemption 00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:56.140 is in Christ and not ourselves. Take, for example, 00:00:56.259 --> 00:00:59.280 a caterpillar. A caterpillar turns into a butterfly, 00:00:59.740 --> 00:01:02.500 a new creation, a whole different insect. But 00:01:02.500 --> 00:01:05.040 the butterfly doesn't still act like a caterpillar. 00:01:05.390 --> 00:01:09.129 It flies and has different habits. When we are 00:01:09.129 --> 00:01:12.810 redeemed and when we have Jesus Christ, we shouldn't 00:01:12.810 --> 00:01:15.930 be acting out of the character of God. And when 00:01:15.930 --> 00:01:20.430 we don't forgive ourselves, we are prone to act 00:01:20.430 --> 00:01:24.489 out of the character of Jesus Christ. Our second 00:01:24.489 --> 00:01:28.530 scripture is Psalm 103:10 through 11. It says, 00:01:34.409 --> 00:01:36.950 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, 00:01:37.469 --> 00:01:40.569 so great is his steadfast love toward those who 00:01:40.569 --> 00:01:43.430 fear him. What is so interesting to me about 00:01:43.430 --> 00:01:46.129 this verse is the psalmist often wrote about 00:01:46.129 --> 00:01:49.549 God's justice, but he also wrote about God's 00:01:49.549 --> 00:01:52.450 grace and his mercy. In this scripture, it says 00:01:52.450 --> 00:01:54.730 for as high as the heavens are above the earth, 00:01:55.109 --> 00:01:58.129 so great is his steadfast love towards those 00:01:58.129 --> 00:02:02.189 who fear him. God's love extends even more than 00:02:02.189 --> 00:02:05.269 that. Jesus loves us so much and God loved us 00:02:05.269 --> 00:02:08.849 so much that he sent his son. If God washes us 00:02:08.849 --> 00:02:12.550 clean, we need to stop thinking we need to wash 00:02:12.550 --> 00:02:15.050 ourselves because that's only going to do minimal 00:02:15.050 --> 00:02:18.930 work. When God washes us clean, it lasts. The 00:02:18.930 --> 00:02:22.750 last scripture today is Romans 8:1. It 00:02:22.750 --> 00:02:32.419 says, A lot of times, we condemn ourselves, and 00:02:32.419 --> 00:02:35.080 we're not listening to the truth of Christ, that 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:37.939 His grace is sufficient for all the sins we've 00:02:37.939 --> 00:02:40.580 ever committed, and that when we're born again, 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:43.039 we're a new creation in Christ. And there is 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:46.300 no condemnation. We put shame on ourselves. That 00:02:46.300 --> 00:02:50.360 is unnecessary because God washes us clean. And 00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:53.759 when we condemn ourselves, we lose our peace 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:58.080 and confidence in our prayers. We lose our peace 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:00.500 because we always have the attitude and we're 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:03.960 always thinking that God is out to get us and 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:06.159 that we are not forgiven for what we've done. 00:03:07.379 --> 00:03:09.639 We also lose confidence in our prayers because 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:12.199 when we pray, we're thinking, will God answer 00:03:12.199 --> 00:03:15.020 my prayer since I did X, Y, and Z the other day? 00:03:15.289 --> 00:03:18.870 Or does God forgive me because I did X, Y, and 00:03:18.870 --> 00:03:22.930 Z the other day? If Jesus convicts our spirit, 00:03:23.490 --> 00:03:26.550 we shouldn't condemn ourselves walking farther 00:03:26.550 --> 00:03:30.389 from God. But when we repent, we become closer 00:03:30.389 --> 00:03:35.289 to God. Conviction comes from God. Condemnation 00:03:35.289 --> 00:03:38.189 comes from Satan. Because that is something that 00:03:38.189 --> 00:03:42.370 a lot of us do. We've all struggled with forgiving 00:03:42.370 --> 00:03:47.080 ourselves. When we are forgiven, we need to stop 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:51.080 condemning ourselves. This applies to you if 00:03:51.080 --> 00:03:53.879 you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:56.919 But if you don't have a personal relationship 00:03:56.919 --> 00:03:59.680 with Jesus Christ, then I invite you to give 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:02.759 your heart to the Lord today. To receive him 00:04:02.759 --> 00:04:04.900 into your heart, go to Romans 10:9 through 00:04:04.900 --> 00:04:07.539 10. It says that if you confess with your mouth 00:04:07.539 --> 00:04:10.180 the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that 00:04:10.180 --> 00:04:13.060 God has raised him from the dead. you will be 00:04:13.060 --> 00:04:16.459 saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:19.519 and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:23.060 If you said this prayer with sincerity, you are 00:04:23.060 --> 00:04:26.180 saved and now have eternal life with Jesus. You 00:04:26.180 --> 00:04:28.980 are saved from all your sins, past, present, 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:32.639 and future sins you may commit. This truth is 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:36.199 not a free past to sin any time. Instead, Jesus 00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:39.220 gives you power over all wrong choices and empowers 00:04:39.220 --> 00:04:42.360 you to spread the gospel to others. You are saved 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:44.980 forever and your name is written in the Book 00:04:44.980 --> 00:04:45.480 of Life!