Does God Really Forgive Me?

Question from a Site Viewer
I’ve been “saved” for years now. I accepted Jesus Christ into my life at a very young age. I didn’t fully understand how salvation worked when I was younger and numerous times I’ve re-dedicated myself back to the Lord and asked Him to forgive me. I still find myself committing the same sins I’ve been doing for a while when I know better. It’s so hard to resist the temptation to do the sin and I know the Bible says if I repent, I am forgiven. I repent and ask God to forgive me every single day, even after I commit the sin. I always end up feeling guilty once I sin and repent because I can’t believe that God really does forgive me when I know I did it on purpose. Doesn’t He get tired of me continually asking to be forgiven for the same thing over and over again? I find it so incredibly hard to believe that He really does forgive me and I always think He’s like, here we go again, so often I feel like He doesn’t really forgive me.

Tim’s Answer
You seem to be caught in a cycle of sin, repentance, and more sin, much like Israel in the days of the Judges and like Paul in Romans 7:14-24. God is quick to forgive when we repent and turn back to Him. But as Jesus told the woman caught in adultery, once we have been forgiven we are to sin no more (John 5:14). As you have learned, we are not able to follow this command on our own. However, God has given us His Holy Spirit. As Scripture states, if we walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). Paul states it this way in Romans 6:16 that when we yield to sin we make ourselves servants of sin; when we yield to righteousness we make ourselves servants of righteousness. John in 1 John 2:1 writes to us so that we will not sin. If we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ. The goal of being saved is not simply salvation from the penalty of sin, but deliverance from sin’s power over our lives. God wants to transform us into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Accordingly, I encourage you not to accept the status quo of living life in the Judges’ cycle of sin, repentance, deliverance, and back to sin. Rather, make it your aim to live life in righteousness, devoted to God. Focus your life on Jesus Christ and His righteousness. Learn to pray and to carry out the duties of a priest in bringing the needs of others before our God. Seek to sacrifice yourself for the sake of God and others. Become the servant among the people you encounter. Do these things, not because they are the right thing to do, but do them as an offering to the God who has forgiven you. Take joy in being able to show your love for Him by serving others. Focus your life there, always keeping Jesus at the center of your vision.

Walking with the Spirit is not some hard thing. It is rather a constant communication with God and humbly seeking to obey God’s commands. When I say “constant,” I mean having Him in our thoughts throughout the day, talking to Him about our lives, about our activities, in the moment while we are driving, or walking, or sitting, or standing, while at work, or at play, or whenever. We want to be about the mission that Jesus has sent us to do. We want to focus our energies there. Sin occurs not because we slip up, but because we have stopped walking with the Spirit and therefore have lost the power to overcome sin. The remedy for sin is to live in the Spirit of God–to abide in Christ.

I had a friend tell me that he had not watched TV for weeks, even though he had been somewhat a TV addict. It was not that he decided not to watch TV. Rather, he had an insatiable desire to get to know Christ, and so when he had any spare time, he spent it in the Bible and learning from God. He shared how enriching his walk with God was. This is how we want to be. We want to be warm to our God, to find His Word our delight, to reform our minds into minds that focus on Him.

I can give you some tips. First, become a thankful person. Pour out your heart in the morning, in the evening, and throughout the day with thankfulness for God. Thank Him for the good times, and the difficult times. Thank Him for His promised presence. Thank Him for Jesus, for life, for His love. Thank Him for the forgiveness of sins. Thank Him for preserving His Word that you may read it and find out more about Him and what He wants for you. Thank Him for opportunities to serve others. In everything, be thankful.

Second, focus your heart on the mission. We are called to be ambassadors for Christ in this world. Be the best ambassador you can be. Do everything you do with the ability God has given you. The best way to live life to the full is to pray about everything and do what you are able to do. Having asked Him for guidance, trust Him that He will provide guidance and then go out and live your life seeking to please Him. Serve Him well in your play, in your work, in your relaxing times, in your prayer life, and in your worship of Him. Make it your aim to serve the mission of Christ with your life.

Third, do not let sinful thoughts reign in your mind. When a temptation comes in, deal with it; don’t dwell on it. There are many ways to deal with it, but one of the best ones that work for me is to make temptations into triggers or reminders. Thus, if I am tempted, as soon as I am aware of the temptation, I like to use that as a reminder that I should be praying for someone. The temptation becomes a trigger for drawing into God. Or it might be a trigger to sing a song to God, or to praise Him, or any number of other “good” things. Do not let the temptation fester in your mind. When temptations hang around, they will produce sin. Thus, we must bring our thoughts into captivity for the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

The bottom line is that if we claim the name of Christ, we want to walk worthy of that Name. When we fail, He is faithful to forgive. But failure stinks and ruins our fellowship with Him. So, we want to mature in our walk so that we fail less and we walk in the Spirit more each week, month, and year.

May the Lord Jesus be with you as you seek to make your life count for Him,

tim

34 thoughts on “Does God Really Forgive Me?”

  1. Wow this is powerful.. It is midnight and in this hour this word came to me right on time… Thank you and thank You Lord for sending me here… You care for me and prepared this for me because You knew I would need this for such a time as this. I am so grateful to God that He sees me … There are so many in the world yet He hears me and has finally redeemed me from sin.

  2. Pray and Meditate on gods word helps us to continually be filled with the holy spirit to guide us in the divine truth and understanding of o scripture. The bible says to hide his word deep in our hearts to prevent us from sinning (Psalm 119:11)

    I had the same struggle with continuous sin untill I asked god for forgiveness and prayed that he would reveal to me a word that would help me to not sin against him, then he revealed a scripture about meditating on gods word day and night so I that I can constantly be filled with the holy spirit. When we constantly are filled with the holy spirit gods word stays in our every thought and in our hearts to the point where we no longer desire to sin. so some main points to prevent sin.

    *MEDITATE on gods word day and night so that his word is constantly in your heart and mind so the things of the world don’t distract you. Meditation helps you to be consitantly be filled with living water/Holy spirit that teaches and directs you. The holy spirit elp us to obey gods law (Psalm 1:2, Joshua 1:8, collosians 3:16).

    *PRAY often and ask the lord to impart into you wisdom to overcome addictions and worldy habbits. Let god know you NEED his help to overcome temptation to sin (I found praying in my own private space with god very powerful entering into the holly of hollies and seek god face to face). (Phillipians 4:6, 1 chronicles16:11)

    *FELLOWSHIP with brothers and sisters in christ so you are around gods people who will have godly influence

    1. I know what it feels like to have guilt over the cycle of repetitive sin/repentence. I feel broken when im bored studying the same scripture over again, or when, and feel resentful….

      1. Because i cant find a group of like minded people whom truly walk the disciples path (TOGEATHER) every day, fully enveloped in being part of each others lives, mentoring and being a 100% support to each others walk. Shouldn’t we be as one mind, and a sholder to lean on for support every step of the way in renewing our minds and overcoming habitual sin? Shouldn’t we knowing flesh is weak, sacrefice our whole lives to walk in the spirit as one called out people, Would anyone give someone a dangerous job yet not teach them how to do that job right and safely? Are we called to be as bride walking in fellowship or not? Yes, but when the church doors are closed? …this is my struggle

        1. But here and now i still proclaim Yeshua is the way, i have been a grievous repetitive sinner, i dont know how to fix myself, nor my life, but i clearly see what is missing. I and many silent others feel we have been wronged by the institutional church system that leaves us feeling abandoned every hour church doors are closed, so please moderator post these, because this voice of the people of god needs heard, a family of disciples should be reformed that lives for Jesus togeather with no closed hours, and none ever abandoned to or alone, for though tribulation increases, God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Jesus forgive now my sin, grant me the holy spirit, and please guide the heart of yours people into passionate and compassion.

        2. The body of Christ regularly fellowship on Zoom Room. A brother Peter Johnson directed me to this fellowship group after I emailed him about a problem we were having. I have been on Zoom since February and I can assure you it’s the place your looking for. The whole point of Zoom is to train the body of Christ, fellowship and helping those in the body who are weak counselling Gods Word and performing deliverance as well. This is all online and people from all over the world join in with many new people being welcomed into the love of Jesus. Hope to see you there..

  3. I find it very difficult to resist temptation I’m very scared that Jesus Christ has forgotten me because I keep confessing my sins then just walk right back into them as soon as I get the opportunity. Please pray for me and everything I’m going through everyone thank you.

    1. Hey I did too just put everything in the past and Talk to Him in a room and you will see that it’s easy rebuke the Evil One.

  4. Thank you Tim… The massage has just given me hope, I had lost it all. I know know that Jesus loves me. Thanks Tim God bless you

  5. I am blessed to come across this website, So blessed to understand the translation of some of the scriptures. Thank you Tim. God Bless

  6. wow am so happy that I’ve read this coz it really means a lot…thanks for this life transforming word. I feel blessed

  7. I thank God for bringing me here and I believe this is where the struggle ends. No more going back to my vomit, Lord be my help. Thanks Tim for throwing such light on our walk with God and making it practical and easy to apply. Bless your heart!

  8. Scripture memerization is of value;helps you chew on GOD’s word like a cow chews on it’s cud! Still it’s a war that we are in daily!

  9. this is very powerful. i will talk to God and leave evrything behind me and start a fresh page with the Holy Spirit. God bless you Tim

  10. I really thank God almighty for bringing my attention her, because I am going through the same thing and I pray that by what I have read today that God will help me to live accoding to his word……Amen

  11. Thank you so much for what you wrote here. I will come back to this later if I ever feel uncertain. Thank you for reminding me of God’s great love and thanks for some tips on how to walk with him. I pray that you be blessed for helping so many, as shown in the comments. THANK YOU!

  12. Thanks for the advice. I’ve been saved almost three years now and I’m constantly tempted to repeat old sins. I do have favorite sins that I’m praying against. Pleasures of the sins of the flesh. Very powerful. The battlefield is in the mind. I needed good strategies. Sin, repent, repeat. Like a dog to its vomit. Former atheist, occultist, Freemason… Jesus reached WAY down to lift me up. I hate my sins but I am not my sins. I’ll get through it. Just don’t want to make a mockery out of Christ. That’s not His payback. Don’t let Satan convince you that you’re unworthy because you’ve sinned again. Fall down, get up again. Pray without ceasing.

  13. I sing in my church choir, when i was doing great i had brethren around me but right now am not realy doing great, am going through some very had stuff i dont understand and dont know to go about it..and none of the people/brethren i once had sweet fellowship in God with, care about me any more..am just alone going through these..thanks am realy encouraged.

  14. Thanks for sharing Tim. So encouraging to read your answer. Your advice on how to overcome temptation reinforces things I already know to do and adds to my toolkit. I was also very relieved that the response you gave was full of solutions rather than judgement, because I am is a similar place to the questioner. God bless.

  15. Thank you everyone for this page. I just came across it at a great time of need. I have the same problem and I feel like mine is the worst in the while wide world. I also know what I ought to do and I never, in any case will try to justify it because some biblical figures also went through it. I think as a group like this, we need to help each other, on a daily basis by having fellowship and good hearted people like you to hold each other accountable. I really don’t want to fall into sin again because it kills a huge part of me and makes me feel empty on the inside. I think the truth of the matter is that we cannot help ourselves, no matter how hard we try. All we need is a committed relationship with Christ. Pray for me too. Thanks

  16. Wow! I thank you for sharing the word of GOD to people like me and to other who’s facing the same difficulty as I am. I pray and ask GOD in JESUS name to provide me with more power, strenght faith, and more importantly his HOLY SPIRIT to deliver me and set me free from this horribly re-cycled sin . Also I pray that everyone in this page that is looking for help and a way out of this miserably sin that GOD has given y’all all that you ask for in JESUS name. Thank you GOD for your presence, thank you for your HOLY spirit and thank you for your son JESUS CHRIST. Amen.

  17. I thank you so much father in heaven for sending me here am so relieved and ask lord Jesus christ to be my personal lord and saviour. be blessed for the beautiful and lovely respond.

  18. I get confused about sin, our human nature which was designed by god and the idea of “denying the flesh.” Sex, anger, jealousy, greed and gluttony all tie into an animals will to survive and reproduce.our brains are designed with a reward system called “pleasure” when we are achieving those…

  19. His pleasure is greater, we must have the faith to choose him. I thank God for all of you, and especially the author..I felt His presence. Been battling this for awhile now, I see now though, I was relying on myself far too much. He’s taken the weight off my shoulders yet again God bless

  20. Can God ever forgive the sin of beastiality I am so sorry I committed this I was a prisoner of the lust of the flesh for many years ,,Please tell me their is still hope ,Joe

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