What if I don’t feel forgiven by God?

Most of us struggle with feelings of guilt and shame. Long after we have confessed our sins to God, we are apt to feel unforgiven. We might fear that we have been rejected by God. When feelings of guilt hound us – and they will – we need to remind ourselves that our forgiveness does not depend on how we feel. Forgiven people can feel like they are hanging by a thread over the fires of hell. Forgiven people can be oppressed by the accuser (Satan), who stirs up old emotions the way we stir up the embers of a dying fire. Suddenly we are inflamed in the emotions of anxiety and despair. But those emotions are not telling us the truth about the forgiveness of God. Forgiveness is something God does. It is not rooted in our own emotions. It doesn’t depend on whether we forgive ourselves. We are forgiven when He declares us legally acquitted, regardless of how we might be feeling at the moment. God has forgiven all to confessed their sins and have asked for it.

For as high as the earth are above the earth, so great is his love for Those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:11-12