Don't beat yourself up
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The fact is, we are all humans and make mistakes from time to time. When we make mistakes, we must learn from them and move on. There is no need to beat ourselves up about it, nor must we keep moaning about our past wrongs. We must learn to forgive ourselves. During Jesus' last moments before his arrest and crucifixion, he predicted that Peter would deny him three times before the cock crows (John 13:36-38). Peter loved Jesus dearly, and the thought of denying Jesus at the time must have seemed crazy, but guess what? He denied Jesus. Peter must have felt a sense of guilt and blamed himself to the extent that he refused to move on and returned to his old trade. Before Jesus' prediction, the Spirit of God had revealed the truth about who Jesus was to Peter, and upon that revelation, Peter became a rock. But as a result of Peter beating himself up, he could not see that future but instead went back to his life before Christ. It took Christ's forgiveness and reassurance before Peter could step up and fulfil his purpose. When we continually blame ourselves for our mistakes, we focus on our failures and weaknesses and fail to see any good in ourselves. The future becomes very bleak. We judge ourselves, and we neglect our strength.
No one is perfect but God. Peter loved Jesus so dearly that he left everything behind to follow him, yet fear caused him to deny Jesus. Peter was human, and Jesus was not expecting anything more or less from him. He just wanted Peter to be Peter. Peter found forgiveness and moved on to become one of the greatest apostles of Christ. Yes, you have made past errors, and things are not going the way they should; that's okay. Pick up the pieces and ask God for help. No one is beyond God's saving grace. Just as Jesus forgave Peter for denying Him, we have also been forgiven of our past wrongs. There is nothing that we can blame ourselves for that has not been nailed to the cross. If Christ forgives us, we must forgive ourselves and others. Embracing Christ's forgiveness enables us to move forward and become who He has called us to be. If Peter had not embraced Jesus' forgiveness, he would not have been able to be whom and what Christ called him 'a Rock'. The prodigal son received his father's forgiveness, and he left his past behind, becoming once again his father's son (Luke 15:11-32). Like Peter and the prodigal son, we must leave our past errors and mistakes behind to become who Jesus has called us to be, 'his rock.' Our life in Christ is free from condemnation; we have been set free, and we must not keep looking back. The Bible says in Romans 8:1 that there is no condemnation to those who belong to Christ Jesus. Who can condemn or accuse us when Christ died for us? Why are we hard on ourselves because of our mistakes if no one can blame us? Let it go.
Remi Dayo-Omole
