Skip to main content

Self-Forgiveness

finder pointed at John 3:16 in Bible

Self-forgiveness is a funny topic for me because I don't actively practice or think about it, though I have wondered about it as a concept from a Christian perspective.

For some reason, I've been coming across it more and more in Christian fiction lately. It seems to either be a plot device or a teaching that's shared with main characters who think they've done something unforgivable and cannot move ahead in their life. I'm sure I've seen it referenced before, so it's probably only sticking out in my mind right now after reading a slew of Christmas novellas over the winter break.

Though this question has arisen from more current reading, I'm more curious about it as a theological question. I've seen read some books that denounce this teaching by stating that God alone forgives sin (Mark 2:7), which I can somewhat understand, though it's the teachers of the law who express this common belief, with Jesus correcting them about how the Son of Man can do the same thing because He is God (Mark 2:10).

On the other hand, when I've read Christian books that are more from a psychological perspective, they do talk about how because Christians can forgive one another, it must mean that we have the power to forgive ourselves as well.

Because I haven't found a conclusive teaching about this in the Bible (yet?), I haven't ever had it come to mind as a practice I should undertake. It's not to say that others shouldn't practice self-forgiveness if they feel that they have a compelling reason from the Bible to do so, but I want to find out what those reasons are.

If you happen to be a proponent of self-forgiveness, would you be willing to share more about that with me so that I can learn and grow in knowing more about this? It's something that I haven't been exposed to or taught in my church background, so I definitely want to hear other Christian perspectives, namely because it seems to be more frequently include in Christian fiction now and I want to understand both sides. Bible verses would be more than welcome; thank you!
Labels:

Comments

  1. Nicole lamFebruary 5, 2025 at 6:11 PM

    Self-forgiveness does sound a little strange to me. I mean, if we had the power to forgive our own sins, it does sort of rule out the need for Jesus. Of course, I've seen it stated in Christian books as, "God already forgave you, so you need to forgive yourself." In those cases, would self-forgiveness possibly be rebranded or rewritten as just agreeing with God, or accepting the verse "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christian ShelvesFebruary 6, 2025 at 9:43 AM

      I agree with you that self-forgiveness can take away from the need to go directly to Jesus for forgiveness. I feel like rebranding this term in Christian fiction would probably add more clarity; I like what you wrote about how a character can accept what God has already done without the need for more. Coming across self-forgiveness as a reader when it's not necessarily a standard or shared Christian teaching makes it feel like further actions need to be undertaken. Thank you for your perspective as an author! :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Pursuit of Character

Classical education has always appealed to me in that reasoning and fruitful living that contributes to society are meant to be admirable and achievable goals. Reflecting a world where cardinal virtues are esteemed, I love that The Pursuit of Character by Matthew Arbo arrives at this vision from a Christian perspective, providing a compelling case for why Christians need to recover this framework and way of life. Many thanks to Baker Books for providing a complimentary copy of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. Book Synopsis What does it mean to live a good life? Know what makes for a good life Pursue character and meaning Recover the virtues that have guided Christians before us In today's fragmented world, we are encouraged to define for ourselves what is good. But this inevitably fails to satisfy. In The Pursuit of Character , Matthew Arbo argues that we can learn how to live a good life by recovering the virtues that have guided Christians before us....
Post a Comment
Read more

More Than Books

I have to give credit to Joomi Kim, a secular BookTuber, for first alerting me to one of her challenges with contemporary novels (see timestamp starting at 22:25 ) where she notes that many of the books she has read are about authors or those in academia. While I found her entire video to be thought-provoking regarding contemporary literature, I seldom read enough secular books to be able to comment on them as a whole, so this isn't a commentary on what she has presented. The secular books I read are ones that usually serve a cultural purpose or are interesting enough for me to pick up, which is more rare when my TBR of Christian books keeps expanding. I've also chosen not to focus on those books on my blog or social media; although I try to keep up-to-date with broad trends on my own time, I'm not well-versed enough to add my perspective to that discussion on here. Rather, this is a springboard into the one point that she raised about authors writing what they know. It see...
Post a Comment
Read more

Christian Book Review Programs

Over time, I've been on the hunt for Christian book review programs that readers can join. As a result, I've been able to compile the following list which may be of interest if you are seeking review copies of Christian books. This list mostly applies to print and ebooks, although some publishers offer audiobooks as well. If further information is available for any of the publishers below (or any missing publishers), please let me know as I am happy to update this list—thank you! Please note that you can also search for these publishers on NetGalley and other review sites in case there are no review programs available or you don't qualify for one 😊 List last updated: June 4, 2026 Christian Publishers 10ofThose Availability: US, Canada, and UK residents Format: Only books published by 10ofThose qualify for review requests so as to avoid impeding with other Christian book review programs Genre: Christian non-fiction, children's books Email for availability and eligibilit...
10 comments
Read more