Sometimes we hold on to our past mistakes and it weighs us down both mentally and spiritually. Our hearts are filled with regrets and self-loathing for past errors in judgment and actions both intentional and unintentional. To find peace and move forward, we need to forgive ourselves.
While the Bible verses about forgiving yourself do not explicitly mention individuals who forgave themselves in the way that modern psychology or self-help literature discusses self-forgiveness, there are biblical examples of people who experienced God’s forgiveness and found redemption.
One such example is King David. After committing adultery with Bathsheba and arranging the murder of her husband Uriah, King David was confronted by prophet Nathan. He repented deeply and sought God’s forgiveness, as seen in Psalm 51, where he pleads for a clean heart and a renewed spirit and finds forgiveness.
Another example of forgiveness by God and self is of Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus) – Before his conversion, Paul persecuted early Christians. However, after encountering Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was transformed and he spent the rest of his life spreading the message of Christ’s forgiveness and grace. Paul’s story teaches us that anyone, no matter their past, can find forgiveness and purpose in Christ.
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As we embark on the journey to self-forgiveness we need to remember that God forgives us no matter our sins; big or small when ask for forgiveness. If God can forgive us, who are we not to forgive ourselves?
Here are 55 Bible verses about forgiving yourself
2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Romans 3:23
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13
“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”
Romans 8:1
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Psalm 51:10
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Proverbs 28:13
“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”
Romans 6:14
“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
Isaiah 43:25
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
Micah 7:18-19
“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
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Psalm 32:5
“I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”
Jeremiah 31:34
“And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Colossians 2:13-14
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
Psalm 38:18
“I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.”
Luke 7:47
“Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
Acts 3:19
“Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out.”
Ephesians 1:7
“In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.”
1 Timothy 1:15
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”
Hebrews 10:17
“then he adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.'”
Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
Colossians 3:13
“bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
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Psalm 86:5
“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.”
Matthew 6:14-15
“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Romans 8:33-34
“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
Psalm 25:7
“Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!”
1 John 2:1
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
Romans 5:8
“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Psalm 103:10-12
“He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
2 Chronicles 7:14
“if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
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Romans 4:7-8
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
1 John 1:7
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Psalm 103:3
“who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases.”
Ephesians 4:32
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Romans 10:9
“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Psalm 32:1
“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”
Acts 10:43
“To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
1 John 2:12
“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.”
1 Corinthians 6:11
“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Isaiah 55:7
“let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
Luke 24:47
“and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
Psalm 86:15
“But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
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Acts 13:38
“Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.”
1 Peter 2:24
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
Psalm 130:3-4
“If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.”
Romans 8:1-2
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
Psalm 51:17
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
Acts 22:16
“And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.”
1 Peter 5:7
“casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
Matthew 18:21-22 – “Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.'”
Galatians 5:1
“For freedom, Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Luke 6:37
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.”
Psalm 65:3
“When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.”
Acts 3:26
“God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
Colossians 1:14
“in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Romans 5:6-8
“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”