Are you struggling with pain, issues in your life, coming to terms with past events where you have inflicted physical or emotion pain or hurt upon another, or maybe you are trying to deal with past sins? Maybe guilt and shame has beat you down and you are in need of forgiveness. The idea of forgiving one's self is becoming all too common, but the truth is, only God can forgive you of your sins or anything else that ails you. The Apostle John in 1 John 1:9 helps us to come to terms with this fact as he tells us that true confession to God about one's sins and shortcomings initiates God forgiveness. Forgiving one's self requires active participation solely on the part of the offender. It suggests that one is in it alone but this is far from the truth because we can do nothing of spiritual or eternal value apart from God. God forgives, anything else is to err.
