All we like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned, everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Isiah 53:6

We are so often guilty of pulling God down to our level.  When we sin, we think, “If I can’t forgive myself, God can’t forgive me either.” Somehow, in our distorted way of thinking,  we think that asking for forgiveness is not enough; we think we should continue to suffer.  We commit a sin and then ask God to forgive us.  God has done His part; He has laid on [Jesus] the iniquity of us all.He forgives us but we act like we don’t really believe that is all there is to it.  Consciously or consciously, we decide that we deserve to suffer more for the sin we’ve already confessed and asked forgiveness for. We go into periods of self-hatred and depression. We deplete our energy in unforgiveness  toward ourselves.  Then we have no energy left to begin again to live a healthy, balanced life, much less to reach out in love to our friends and family. If God forgives us, isn’t it time to forgive ourselves?

Thought:  God already laid all of our sins  on Jesus, so I will just say “thanks”. I will not play God by continuing to punish myself once I have been forgiven.