Let Yourself Off the Hook

He is much kinder and much gentler towards us than we are towards ourselves. So give yourself a break lay down your 'beat yourself up stick', step away from self-judgment, and fall into His arms of mercy and grace.

Video Transcript

Hi there and welcome back to Daily Bible Promises with a Twist and today as always we’re going to begin by reading one verse from the New International Version and that Psalm 103:12.”As far as the east is from the west so far he has removed our transgressions from us”

And now, let’s read that verse in context from another translation and I’m going to be reading from the New Living Translation today. Starting at verse 8 and ending at verse 12.”The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”

And today, I am going to take advantage of the title of the series, Daily Bible Promises with a Twist, and put my own twist on things. I’d like to talk to you directly because I felt when I read this that there are people who are watching this who are beating themselves up because of the deliberate sins they have made in their past. Whether those are the sins that you committed a half hour ago or whether they were sins that you committed twenty years ago, guilt and shame are your constant companions and you’re walking around with a big stick and beating yourself up whenever you can.

And when somebody speaks the truth of who you are in Christ, you automatically think that you are disqualified because of your past sins. John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” When we confess our sins, that is when we repent of our sins, we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.

What does it mean to repent? To repent it simply means to acknowledge the truth about yourself, confess your sin, turn your back from that sinful behaviour and walk in the other direction. Changing your mindset and the way that you live your life is part of repentance.

I felt that God would like to say to you let yourself off the hook. Jesus took your sins to the cross and those sins hung on the cross with Him. You are diminishing the power of the cross by you feeling that you need to do some sort of penance before you are considered worthy of forgiveness. It doesn’t work that way in God’s kingdom.


Yes, there may be earthly consequences for our past actions. We may need to make restitution to those that we have harmed, but in the eternal perspective, and how God sees you now, once you have confessed your sins, once you have repented, He does not see your transgressions anymore.

He is much kinder and much gentler towards us than we are towards ourselves. So give yourself a break lay down your ‘beat yourself up stick’, step away from self-judgment, and fall into His arms of mercy and grace.

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©2018 Katherine Walden

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