The devil and others love to bring up our past. When that happens, we feel inadequate, and even unworthy of Jesus’ love. It makes us doubt if we really have a part in God’s plan. This happens to all of us at one point or another on this journey. God does not want your past to dominate your present, and God definitely does not want it to affect your future destiny.

In order for God to do all the wonderful things He wants to do for us, we have to realize we have been forgiven, and accept that Jesus has made the past, just that, the past. It has no control over us anymore.

One of the tricks the enemy uses against us is this phrase, "Well, you have to forgive yourself first.". This sounds good, and seems to make sense, but this is from the pit of hell.  If you have tried this, it is very hard, and it is hard for a very good reason, because you can’t, which is actually good.

In order to forgive yourself, you have to relive those past events in your mind that you really don’t want to relive again. When we do relive it, we actually feel worse about ourselves because we see how dumb we were and then the "what ifs" come in. What if I just did that differently?  What if I avoided that one thing?  We then go down a spiral and not only do we not forgive ourselves, but we also get to a point where we don’t want to forgive ourselves.

God does not want you to forgive yourself, because the Good News, and it is Good News, is that you CAN’T. Only God can forgive us. We have to realize that we don’t need anyone to forgive us, but God. God is the only one with a vote that counts in the end.

Stop trying to forgive yourself, because you can’t. Give it to God, because God wants to forgive you, and then accept the fact that God has forgiven you.

In Psalm 103, David deals with this. David did a lot of things in his past, just like us. The whole Psalm is an inspiring read, but there are a couple of verses that are simply amazing.

Psalm 103:2-3: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:  Who forgives all your iniquities."

Psalm 103:12:  "As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us."

There is nothing God will not forgive, and secondly, when God forgives, He forgets it ever happened!

Stop trying to forgive yourself, and accept the fact that Jesus is more than willing to forgive you and forget that it ever happened. Stop reliving your past like it matters, because it doesn’t.

So, when the devil tries to remind you of your past, take a moment and remind the devil what God says about you.  Then remind the devil of his future in hell, and your eternal glory in heaven, because you are forgiven and your past is simply that, just your past.  It is not who you are now!

Pass this along to someone who is struggling today, so that they can be set free!!

Remember Jesus loves you; I love you, and you are awesome!