One Problem

Rose, a 27years old lady recently accepted Christ into her life. Prior to that she was a commercial sex worker, or in other words we could say she was a sex hawker or ‘’asawo’’.Rose was an attractive lady and men used to wait on her doorstep to have her, when most of them did not even know her name or where she was from. She slept with over a hundred men, a little wonder how she had not gotten HIV. Abortion was a regular business for her, as every conceived child was a hindrance to her ply of trade and the punishment for such child was for it to be flushed out. Alcohol was like water and hard drugs were like food to her, she was so addicted to it.She however found her liberation when she had an encounter with Christ, asked for His forgiveness, and accepted him as Lord and saviour, however there was still one problem…

Crime ought to have been a synonym of Wale, a 25year old young man who was a notorious criminal. He was an expert in armed robbery, forgery, and stealing. He had been convicted of rape before and even served jail term. Lives had no meaning to him and he could terminate anyone who stood in his way, he was usually hired by evil perpetrators to carry out their evil work like kidnapping and assassination. The blood of so many people had been shed by Wale; he however met with Christ in the prison when he was serving a jail term. He truly repented and accepted Christ as His Lord and Saviour, however there was still one problem…

John had an innocent look and one may even consider that he couldn’t hurt a fly, however on a closer look he was the master of pornography. His phone used to be an inhabitation of all kinds and form of pornography gotten from across the globe, his bedroom used to be filled with magazines showing nude women and this same room became an abode of masturbation. He was entrapped into this bondage of pornography and masturbation, but found his freedom in Christ when he allowed Jesus to be Lord over his life at a Christian concert, there was still one problem…

Rose, Wale and John have so many things in common; they were all sinners, they had an encounter with Christ and asked for His forgiveness and they all have ’one problem’ What can this problem actually be? It is a problem affecting many believers today, it has made them get stuck in a particular position and denying them the opportunity of moving forward, guilt has built a mansion in their hearts and trapped faith in it.

Self-forgiveness is so uncommon in the Christian circle and it has become the cankerworm hindering believers from moving to greater heights and breaking the yoke of stagnancy. More emphasis is usually laid on God’s forgiveness and forgiving others, while leaving a crucial part of the forgiveness procedure which is self-forgiveness. Self-forgiveness is the ability of a person to forgive his or herself for every wrong done in the past, when the Bible says that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, old things are passed away and all things have become new, it really means it! It means that upon receiving God’s forgiveness, you cannot be condemned by anyone for the sins which you have been forgiven, not even yourself! You are no more guilty, you are proclaimed innocent by God, you have received that amnesty from God and all those criminal records have been erased from His record of proceedings, while your name has been written in the book of life.

If God has forgiven you, who are you not to forgive yourself of all the wrong doings? Failure to forgive one’s self is like pointing a finger to God and telling Him that you know He said He has forgiven you, but you do not have faith in Him that He has forgiven. Lack of faith is a sin itself. When you do not forgive yourself, you run to the altar at every altar call and give your life to Christ over and over again, not because you were not forgiven the first time but because you have allowed that guilt to dwell in your heart for too long. Don’t let the devil continue to trick you that once you are guilty, you are always guilty. You are forgiven! You are innocent!

Just take the last step by forgiving yourself. You may say, ’it is not easy’ ’I have hurt so many’. That is all true, but God does not desire you to be hurt and be in the bondage of guilt, it is written that whosoever the Son sets free is free indeed. Facilitate the healing process by forgiving yourself.

If you do not want to be like Rose, Wale and John with the one problem, please learn to forgive yourself, as it is the key that perfects the three stages of forgiveness. It is the key to your total freedom, liberation and the vehicle that transports you to the place you are meant to be. I am sure you do not want to miss out of God’s benefit for your life, embrace God’s forgiveness, forgive others and forgive yourself; you will surely live in the fullness of God’s glory. God loves you!