We Always Understand and Forgive Ourselves.

Caiaphas murdered Jesus in a judicial murder. He used bribes, perjury and political clout to have an innocent man beaten, tortured and hideously murdered in a degrading and agonizing manner.

Even if Caiaphas did not know he was killing God in human form, he certainly did know he was murdering an innocent man. Scripture records the discussion where the Pharisees decided to have Jesus killed. Their reason was political expedience. Or other, it was rationalized self-excuse.

Jesus, they told one another, was a rabble rouser. The Romans didn’t like rabble rousers. So, they told themselves, it was necessary to kill Jesus, or as they put it, “Better that one man die than a whole people.”

If that sounds familiar, it’s because the same kind of excuses are used all the time when people want to give themselves permission to do something dastardly.

We always understand and forgive ourselves. That’s our fallen human nature. The only way out of that trap is to recognize it for the roadway to hell that it is, and then stop forgiving ourselves. Instead, acknowledge your sin and do it early on, when they are just ideas in your head, and turn to God for forgiveness and the guidance to do better.

This is a daily, sometimes an hourly, thing. But it is not painful. Just trust Him and follow Him and stop excusing yourself. Let Him heal and guide you.