---
title: "How Do I Know God Has Forgiven Me?"
description: "How to know God has forgiven you: what each church says, why guilt can stay after confession, and what to read when the feeling has not come."
url: "https://biblenudge.com/blog/how-do-i-know-god-has-forgiven-me"
lang: "en"
published: "2026-11-06"
modified: "2026-11-06"
author: "Cal Hewitt"
tags: ["forgiveness","guilt","confession","absolution","psalm 103"]
image: "https://biblenudge.com/og/blog-how-do-i-know-god-has-forgiven-me.jpg"
alternates:
  es: "https://biblenudge.com/es/blog/como-saber-si-dios-me-ha-perdonado.md"
---

# How Do I Know God Has Forgiven Me?

[Cal Hewitt](https://biblenudge.com/about/cal-hewitt)Published November 6, 2026

- forgiveness
- guilt
- confession
- absolution
- psalm 103

![How Do I Know God Has Forgiven Me?](https://biblenudge.com/blog/how-do-i-know-god-has-forgiven-me/featured.jpg)

Many Christians describe God's forgiveness as something given and spoken, which a person can know before they feel it. That is why so many churches put it into words said out loud: absolution after confession, or a promise of Scripture read back to you. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association puts it in one line: ["The key is to depend not on your feelings, but on facts."](https://billygraham.org/answers/how-do-i-know-god-has-really-forgiven-me)

Feeling forgiven often comes later than that, or comes and goes. Guilt that stays after confession is common enough that Catholic writers address it directly, and [Bulldog Catholic](https://bulldogcatholic.org/why-do-i-still-feel-badly-about-my-sins-after-ive-confessed/) has a whole piece on why a person can still feel badly about sins already confessed. The words can be said and the weight can still be there at night, both at once, for a while.

This is written for you if you have confessed and apologized, made what amends you could, and still wake at 3 a.m. with it. It is for you if you were told forgiveness must be felt, or earned, or that only a priest or pastor can say it, and for you if your church has no confession at all. It is for you if you have no settled faith and want to know what the weight is, and for the parent, friend or spouse sitting up with somebody who cannot put it down.

## If you only have a minute

### The words churches use

Absolution after confession, a declaration of pardon, the promises of Scripture, or teshuvah, the Jewish word for return.

### What the forgiven were given

In the Gospels, words spoken to them directly: at a dinner table, beside a cross, in front of a crowd.

### Why guilt can outlast forgiveness

Feelings keep their own time, and the effects of a serious wrong can last after it is forgiven.

### One thing tonight

Read Micah 7:18-19 once, slowly.

### Help lines

By country, in the last section, for a night that feels too heavy.

## How do I know if I am forgiven by God?

Each tradition answers this in its own words, and most of them answer by pointing to something said rather than something felt. Set side by side, ranked by none, this is how they put it.

How each tradition says it

Hover or tap a row to highlight it. Sort by a column heading; a third click puts the rows back in their original order.

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lutheran | Confession has two parts: we confess our sins "and that we receive absolution, or forgiveness, from the confessor, as from God Himself, and in no way doubt, but firmly believe, that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven." | [Luther's Small Catechism](https://catechism.cph.org/en/confession.html) (1529) |
| Orthodox | "The third element of penance is the formal prayer of absolution through which the forgiveness of God through Christ is sacramentally bestowed upon the repentant sinner," with the priest as witness and guide | [Orthodox Church in America](https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/worship/the-sacraments/penance) |
| Anglican and Episcopal | After the general confession: "Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins." | [Book of Common Prayer](https://www.episcopalchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/book-of-common-prayer-2006.pdf) (1979) |
| Catholic | Absolution in the sacrament of Penance, in which "both priests and sacraments are instruments" Christ uses to forgive | [Catechism 976 to 987](https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_one/section_two/chapter_three/article_10/ii_the_power_of_the_keys.html) |
| Methodist | Forgiveness tied to God's grace, to repentance and to new life | [By Water and the Spirit](https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/by-water-and-the-spirit) (1996) |
| Pentecostal | Forgiveness received through repentance and faith in Christ, with assurance grounded in Scripture and Christ's work rather than a required feeling | [Assemblies of God](https://ag.org/Beliefs/Our-Core-Doctrines) |
| Reformed | Justification is "the act of God’s free grace," and repentance is not its cause | Westminster Confession, chapters 11 and 15 (1646) |
| Quaker | Direct access to God, inward change and discernment together, rather than a priest's absolution | [Quaker faith and practice](https://qfp.quaker.org.uk/) |
| Jewish | Teshuvah: repentance with spoken confession and changed conduct | [Maimonides, Laws of Repentance](https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Repentance.2) |

TraditionLutheran

In its own wordsConfession has two parts: we confess our sins "and that we receive absolution, or forgiveness, from the confessor, as from God Himself, and in no way doubt, but firmly believe, that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven."

Where[Luther's Small Catechism](https://catechism.cph.org/en/confession.html) (1529)

TraditionOrthodox

In its own words"The third element of penance is the formal prayer of absolution through which the forgiveness of God through Christ is sacramentally bestowed upon the repentant sinner," with the priest as witness and guide

Where[Orthodox Church in America](https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/worship/the-sacraments/penance)

TraditionAnglican and Episcopal

In its own wordsAfter the general confession: "Almighty God, who forgives all who truly repent, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins."

Where[Book of Common Prayer](https://www.episcopalchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/book-of-common-prayer-2006.pdf) (1979)

TraditionCatholic

In its own wordsAbsolution in the sacrament of Penance, in which "both priests and sacraments are instruments" Christ uses to forgive

Where[Catechism 976 to 987](https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_one/section_two/chapter_three/article_10/ii_the_power_of_the_keys.html)

TraditionMethodist

In its own wordsForgiveness tied to God's grace, to repentance and to new life

Where[By Water and the Spirit](https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/by-water-and-the-spirit) (1996)

TraditionPentecostal

In its own wordsForgiveness received through repentance and faith in Christ, with assurance grounded in Scripture and Christ's work rather than a required feeling

Where[Assemblies of God](https://ag.org/Beliefs/Our-Core-Doctrines)

TraditionReformed

In its own wordsJustification is "the act of God’s free grace," and repentance is not its cause

WhereWestminster Confession, chapters 11 and 15 (1646)

TraditionQuaker

In its own wordsDirect access to God, inward change and discernment together, rather than a priest's absolution

Where[Quaker faith and practice](https://qfp.quaker.org.uk/)

TraditionJewish

In its own wordsTeshuvah: repentance with spoken confession and changed conduct

Where[Maimonides, Laws of Repentance](https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Repentance.2)

If you are Catholic, the words of absolution the priest says are quoted in [Bible verses for forgiving yourself](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-forgiving-yourself), and you can go back to them on a night when you need to hear them again.

The same words carry different weight from one church to the next. Absolution is a declared, sacramental forgiveness in Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches; justification is a Protestant word for God's gracious declaration that a person is accepted; and teshuvah, return, is its own Jewish idea, with its own steps. What they share is that each gives you something outside your own feelings to rest on: words spoken by a priest or pastor, a promise read in Scripture, or a return made in confession and changed conduct.

## What are the signs that you have been forgiven?

If you have been looking for a sign, it makes sense to want one: something you could check at 3 a.m. Some lists online offer signs such as peace, changed desires or less pull toward the old sin, while other writers say feelings are no sign at all. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association takes the second view in another of its answers: ["Feelings come and go, and they can deceive us."](https://billygraham.org/answers/how-can-i-know-if-god-has-forgiven-me) [Christianity.net.au](https://christianity.net.au/questions/how_do_i_know_that_god_has_forgiven_me_when_i_have_been_sinned_and_feel_so) separates guilt that leads a person to repent from guilt that goes on and on without changing anything, which is a different thing to carry.

The Gospels offer something steadier than a checklist. In each scene where somebody is forgiven, the forgiveness comes as words, spoken to a person, in a particular place.

In [Luke 7:36-50](https://bible-api.com/luke%207:36-50?translation=web), Jesus is eating at the house of a Pharisee named Simon. A woman known in the town as a sinner comes in, weeps over his feet, wipes them with her hair and anoints them. Simon thinks less of Jesus for allowing it. Jesus answers Simon with a story about two debtors, and then turns to the woman and says to her, "Your sins are forgiven," and as she goes, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

In [Luke 23:39-43](https://bible-api.com/luke%2023:39-43?translation=web), two criminals are crucified beside Jesus. One mocks him. The other rebukes him, saying the two of them are being punished justly, and asks Jesus to remember him when he comes into his kingdom. Jesus answers him, "Today, you will be with me in Paradise." There is no time left for that man to make anything right, and the promise is spoken to him anyway.

In [John 8:1-11](https://bible-api.com/john%208:1-11?translation=web), scribes and Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery into the temple courts, in front of a crowd, and ask Jesus whether she should be stoned. He tells whichever of them is without sin to throw the first stone, and they leave one by one, the oldest first. When no one is left to accuse her, he says, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way. From now on, sin no more."

In [2 Samuel 12](https://bible-api.com/2%20Samuel%2011-12?translation=web), the prophet Nathan goes to King David after David has taken Bathsheba and arranged the death of her husband, Uriah. Nathan tells him a story about a rich man who took a poor man's only lamb, and when David is angry at the rich man, Nathan tells him that he is that man. David admits he has sinned against God, and Nathan answers that Yahweh has taken away his sin.

[Luke 18:9-14](https://bible-api.com/luke%2018:9-14?translation=web) adds a fifth: a tax collector standing far off in the temple, who will not even lift his eyes and prays, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." Jesus says he went home justified. That short prayer is one of the prayers gathered in [how to come back to God](https://biblenudge.com/blog/how-to-come-back-to-god).

Catholic and Orthodox commentators tend to read Luke 7 and John 8 through mercy and restoration, and Protestant commentators through faith and Jesus' authority to forgive. Either way, what these scenes give you is words. Each person was told something, out loud, and the text records the words rather than how anyone felt afterward. On a night when no feeling comes, the words are still there to go back to.

![Clean cups drying upside down on a rack beside a kitchen sink in morning light](https://biblenudge.com/blog/how-do-i-know-god-has-forgiven-me/the-washed-cups.jpg)

*Up before the house is, again.*

## What does it feel like when God forgives you?

There are two honest answers, and both are true for different people. [Bulldog Catholic](https://bulldogcatholic.org/why-do-i-still-feel-badly-about-my-sins-after-ive-confessed/) says confession can leave a person feeling "free, great, beautiful, forgiven, clean, happy." The same site also says a person may still feel badly afterward, because the emotional effects of serious sin can last after the sin itself is forgiven.

People describe the second answer in their own words. In a thread on Reddit's r/Christianity titled "How do I know if God has forgiven me, I can’t feel it," posted on 2025-05-28, the person who started it wrote, ["I repent and ask God for forgiveness, but I just do not feel forgiven,"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/1kx80fz/how_do_i_know_if_god_has_forgiven_me_i_cant_feel_it/) and, "I know that God forgives everything, but it is difficult for me to believe it." Replies in the same Reddit thread said, "Forgiveness isn’t a feeling ... it’s a status," and, "He doesn’t send a confirmation email or anything."

On Reddit's r/Lutheranism, in a post from 2026, somebody wrote, ["I’ve prayed privately and asked God for forgiveness probably 20 times but the guilt simply isn’t going away."](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lutheranism/comments/1vt5e6y/what_to_do_about_lingering_guilt_after_i_already/) A reply on that Reddit thread put it carefully: "knowledge that God forgives you might not make the bodily guilt you feel go away."

Put plainly, people describe a range. For some it is peace or relief straight away, sometimes walking out of confession. For some there is nothing at first. For many it eases over time, through absolution, a friend who listens, prayer, therapy, a ritual, or simply time passing, and on no fixed schedule. None of those is a measure of whether you are forgiven. They are descriptions of how the weight has lifted for different people.

## Why do I still feel guilty after asking forgiveness?

Guilt and shame are not the same thing, and [Bible verses for guilt and shame](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-guilt-and-shame) sets out the difference. The loop of confessing the same thing again and again, and the account of moral injury from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, are covered in [Bible verses for forgiving yourself](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-forgiving-yourself).

One person on Reddit's r/Catholicism, posting in 2026, asked the question underneath this one: ["What does it actually mean to trust in God’s mercy rather than continually punishing yourself?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Catholicism/comments/1vnbl61/healing/) It is a good question to hold. Feeling guilty and being unforgiven are two different things, and a person can go on punishing themselves for something long after the words of forgiveness have been said.

The passage Bible Nudge offers for guilt and regret is [Psalm 103:8-12](https://biblenudge.com/context/psalm-103-8-12). In the World English Bible:

> Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness. He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

In the King James Version:

> The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Two Hebrew words carry much of it. The word behind "removed" is *rachaq*, which means to put far away, to set at a distance. The word behind "loving kindness" is *chesed*, which also carries covenant loyalty and steadfast love: kindness that keeps its promises. In Jewish worship the psalm belongs to the liturgy, including Rosh Chodesh, the new month, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, as [Sefaria](https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.103) notes with the Hebrew text.

What the psalm gives you is a description of what God is said to have done with the wrong, rather than one more thing for you to do. You can read it on a night when the feeling has not come, and hold one question with it: "What are you still holding that this says has already been carried away?" [Psalm 103:8-12](https://biblenudge.com/context/psalm-103-8-12) is there with the verses around it, from verse 5 to verse 15, if you want its setting.

Other passages speak of God no longer remembering sins at all. In Isaiah 43:25, God, speaking to Israel through the prophet, says he blots out their transgressions for his own sake and will not remember their sins. In [Jeremiah 31:31-34](https://bible-api.com/jeremiah%2031:31-34?translation=web), the prophet describes a new covenant written on people's hearts, which ends with God saying he will remember their sin no more. [Micah 7:18-20](https://bible-api.com/micah%207:18-20?translation=web), at the very end of Micah's book, asks who is a God like this, who pardons and delights in loving kindness, and says he will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. [Hebrews 10:11-18](https://bible-api.com/hebrews%2010:11-18?translation=web) quotes Jeremiah's new covenant and applies it to Christ's offering, made once.

The prophets were speaking to Israel, and Hebrews to an early Christian community, but all four give the same kind of help: words for a mind that keeps remembering, about a God who is described as choosing not to.

## Will God forgive me if I am truly sorry, and how long does it take?

If you are afraid you were not sorry enough, or did not ask the right way, or have waited too long, several of the traditions above speak to that fear in their own words. Luther's Small Catechism asks the person who has confessed to "in no way doubt." The Westminster Confession says repentance is not the cause of justification; God's grace is. The [Catholic Catechism](https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_two/section_two/chapter_two/article_4/vi_the_sacrament_of_penance_and_reconciliation.index.html) describes what penance asks, that the sinner "be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fruitful satisfaction" (1450), and then places the forgiving in the absolution itself.

If your fear is that you have not confessed everything, two traditions speak to it directly. The Spanish edition of the [Catecismo](https://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism_sp/p2s2c2a4_sp.html) (1456 to 1458) asks Catholics to confess grave sins by kind and number, and strongly recommends confessing lesser ones too. The [Augsburg Confession, article XI](https://bookofconcord.org/augsburg-confession/article-xi/) (1530), says, "Of Confession they teach that private Absolution ought to be retained in the churches and not be allowed to fall into disuse," and adds that listing every sin is not necessary, because it is impossible.

The verse people send most often here is 1 John 1:9, from [1 John 1:5 to 2:2](https://bible-api.com/1%20John%201:5-2:2?translation=web), a letter to a Christian community about walking in the light. Commentators read it in several ways: as a promise to believers who confess, as a description of a community living honestly with one another, through the practice of sacramental confession, or as a statement about God's faithfulness. Bible Nudge set it aside as the passage for guilt, for a reason [Bible verses for guilt and shame](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-guilt-and-shame) explains.

[Psalm 32](https://bible-api.com/psalm%2032?translation=web) is a psalm of thanksgiving about wrong forgiven and sin acknowledged, and Catholic commentators read it as the testimony of somebody already forgiven, looking back on what it was like to keep silent and what changed when they spoke.

On how long it takes, the traditions differ, and the difference is worth knowing rather than settling. Some describe forgiveness as complete at the moment of asking or at the word of absolution. Others, Methodist and Orthodox writers among them, also speak of a healing worked out over a whole life. Some churches hold the two together, and some lean on one more than the other.

If you want words for saying sorry, [how to come back to God](https://biblenudge.com/blog/how-to-come-back-to-god) prints short prayers from several churches that you can say as they are.

![A pair of slippers beside an unmade bed in gray early morning light](https://biblenudge.com/blog/how-do-i-know-god-has-forgiven-me/the-slippers.jpg)

*Some mornings start with the same thought as the night before.*

## Does God still punish you after you repent?

This question is a hard one, and the passages pull in more than one direction. Set side by side, each in its setting, they look like this.

Forgiveness and what follows, in the passages

Hover or tap a row to highlight it. Sort by a column heading; a third click puts the rows back in their original order.

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [2 Samuel 12:13-14](https://bible-api.com/2%20Samuel%2012:13-14?translation=web) | Nathan with David, after Bathsheba and Uriah | David's sin taken away, and consequences announced in the same breath |
| [Numbers 14:18-23](https://bible-api.com/numbers%2014:18-23?translation=web) | The wilderness, after the people refused to enter the land | Moses prays, God pardons, and that generation still does not see the land |
| [Hebrews 12:5-11](https://bible-api.com/hebrews%2012:5-11?translation=web) | A letter to a community under strain | Discipline described in a parent's terms, as training |
| [Galatians 6:7-8](https://bible-api.com/galatians%206:7-8?translation=web) | Paul's closing counsel to the churches of Galatia | A person reaps what they sow |
| [Ezekiel 18:21-23](https://bible-api.com/ezekiel%2018:21-23?translation=web) | A prophet to exiles who believed they were paying for their parents' sins | The person who turns from wrong will live, and God takes no pleasure in anyone's death |
| [Psalm 99:8](https://bible-api.com/psalm%2099:8?translation=web) | A psalm of God's kingship, recalling Moses, Aaron and Samuel | God answered them and forgave them, and still dealt with their wrongdoing |

Passage[2 Samuel 12:13-14](https://bible-api.com/2%20Samuel%2012:13-14?translation=web)

SettingNathan with David, after Bathsheba and Uriah

What it recordsDavid's sin taken away, and consequences announced in the same breath

Passage[Numbers 14:18-23](https://bible-api.com/numbers%2014:18-23?translation=web)

SettingThe wilderness, after the people refused to enter the land

What it recordsMoses prays, God pardons, and that generation still does not see the land

Passage[Hebrews 12:5-11](https://bible-api.com/hebrews%2012:5-11?translation=web)

SettingA letter to a community under strain

What it recordsDiscipline described in a parent's terms, as training

Passage[Galatians 6:7-8](https://bible-api.com/galatians%206:7-8?translation=web)

SettingPaul's closing counsel to the churches of Galatia

What it recordsA person reaps what they sow

Passage[Ezekiel 18:21-23](https://bible-api.com/ezekiel%2018:21-23?translation=web)

SettingA prophet to exiles who believed they were paying for their parents' sins

What it recordsThe person who turns from wrong will live, and God takes no pleasure in anyone's death

Passage[Psalm 99:8](https://bible-api.com/psalm%2099:8?translation=web)

SettingA psalm of God's kingship, recalling Moses, Aaron and Samuel

What it recordsGod answered them and forgave them, and still dealt with their wrongdoing

The traditions read these differently. The [Catholic Catechism](https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_two/section_two/chapter_two/article_4/x_indulgences.html) says, "The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains" (1472), and in its teaching on [penance](https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_two/section_two/chapter_two/article_4/vi_the_sacrament_of_penance_and_reconciliation.index.html), "Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused." Orthodox writers often describe sin as illness and its consequences as part of healing. Reformed commentators read Hebrews 12 as a father's discipline rather than condemnation. Other readers take 2 Samuel 12 as punishment that remains after forgiveness.

What these give you is room to hold forgiveness and consequence together. A marriage may still be over, a job may still be gone, a friend may still not call, and none of that has to mean the forgiveness was not real. The passages describe other people's lives, in their own settings, and leave the reading of your own life to you and the people who know you.

Where a wrong touched another person, more than one tradition asks for something to be put right. [Mishnah Yoma 8:9](https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Yoma.8.9) says, "For transgressions between a person and God, Yom Kippur atones; however, for transgressions between a person and another, Yom Kippur does not atone until he appeases the other person." The Catechism asks for restitution where something was taken ([2412](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P6Z.HTM)) and for reparation where somebody's reputation was harmed ([2487](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P8C.HTM)).

Our own suggestion, if you are unsure what you still owe somebody: take that one particular case to a priest, pastor or rabbi you trust, and if it has any legal weight, to a lawyer or a legal aid service where you live. That gives you a real answer for your situation, rather than a general one.

## What should you say to someone who does not feel forgiven?

Some things said with good intentions land hard, and if you have said one of them to somebody, it was probably meant kindly. Each one below has a line of our own beside it that may sit more gently.

In the r/Christianity thread above, replies posted on Reddit included ["Are you certain you’ve confessed every single aspect of whatever sin you committed?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/1kx80fz/how_do_i_know_if_god_has_forgiven_me_i_cant_feel_it/), "Maybe you need to forgive yourself too," and "Why don’t you go on a fast and then seek Him in prayer." Each hands a frightened person one more task to complete before they can rest.

Other lines people hear, from nobody in particular: "If you really repented you would feel forgiven." "You have not forgiven yourself, so God has not forgiven you." "God forgives you but you must still suffer the consequences," said as a rebuke to somebody who has already lost a great deal. "You only have to ask," to somebody who has asked a hundred times.

Two passages get used this way as well. Matthew 6:14-15 comes straight after the Lord's Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount, as Jesus' comment on its line about forgiving others, and it can be turned into a test to fail. Psalm 51 is David's own prayer of confession after Nathan came to him; handed to somebody who has already repented, it can read as one more confession to make. And if lists of "sins God will not forgive" are part of the fear, [have I committed the unforgivable sin](https://biblenudge.com/blog/have-i-committed-the-unforgivable-sin) answers that question on its own.

Lines of our own that can go in their place:

- "You have said sorry. You can rest on that tonight, even if the feeling has not caught up."
- "Would it help to say it once to a priest or pastor and hear the words said back to you?"
- "I am not going anywhere while this eases."

## What if the guilt will not lift?

Guilt that stays for months, or confessing and asking again and again with no relief, is a good reason to talk to a doctor or therapist as well as a priest or pastor. [Bible verses for forgiving yourself](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-forgiving-yourself) describes scrupulosity, the religious and moral form of obsessive thinking, and these services can point you to help with it by country:

In the United States, the International OCD Foundation's [Find Help](https://iocdf.org/find-help/) directory. In the United Kingdom, [OCD Action](https://www.ocdaction.org.uk/) and [OCD-UK](https://www.ocduk.org/). In Canada, the [Canadian OCD Network](https://ocdcanada.org/). In Australia, [OCD Australia](https://ocdaustralia.org.au/).

A priest, pastor or rabbi is the person for confession, repentance and what the passages mean. A doctor or therapist is the person for depression, trauma, anxiety or guilt that keeps coming back. Many people see both, and neither one cancels the other.

![A garden bench covered in fresh, untouched snow on a still morning](https://biblenudge.com/blog/how-do-i-know-god-has-forgiven-me/the-fresh-snow.jpg)

*Air in the room, after a long night.*

## Questions people ask

These come up beside the main question, and each has a short answer of its own.

### What is the difference between guilt and shame?

The psychologist June Tangney, interviewed by the [American Psychological Association](https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/interviews/4317264-tangney), puts it this way: "When people feel shame, they feel badly about themselves; when people feel guilt, they feel badly about a specific behavior." Guilt points at something done, which can be confessed and put right. Shame points at the whole self.

### Do I have to confess to a priest to be forgiven?

That depends on your church. Catholic teaching asks for grave sins to be confessed in the sacrament, and Lutherans keep private absolution without requiring every sin to be listed. Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, such as the [Assemblies of God](https://ag.org/Beliefs/Our-Core-Doctrines), place forgiveness in repentance and faith in Christ, prayed directly to God, without a priest's formula.

### Is feeling forgiven by God linked to well-being?

A [2017 Baylor University study](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0164027517706984) of 1,024 Christians aged 65 and older in the United States found that confidence in God's forgiveness went together with secure attachment to God, optimism and self-esteem. It showed the two going together, not that one causes the other, and it describes one group of older adults.

### Do many people believe God has punished them?

Yes. [Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/11/23/few-americans-blame-god-or-say-faith-has-been-shaken-amid-pandemic-other-tragedies/) reported that 40 percent of U.S. adults said God had ever punished them. If the fear that something in your life is a punishment sits beside your guilt, it is a common one.

## Where to go next

If guilt sits beside low mood, panic or thoughts of ending your life, please reach a person tonight. In the United States, call [988](tel:988) or text [988](sms:988), or reach the [988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline](https://988lifeline.org/), with [help in Spanish](https://988lifeline.org/es/obten-ayuda/) as well. In Canada, call or text [9-8-8](https://988.ca/). In the United Kingdom and Ireland, [Samaritans](https://www.samaritans.org/) is on 116 123. In Australia, [Lifeline](https://www.lifeline.org.au/) is on 13 11 14. In Spain, the [Línea 024](https://www.sanidad.gob.es/linea024/home.htm). In Mexico, the [Línea de la Vida](https://www.gob.mx/salud/lineadelavida). In Argentina, the [Centro de Asistencia al Suicida](https://www.asistenciaalsuicida.org.ar/). Everywhere else, Colombia included, [Find A Helpline](https://findahelpline.com/) lists services by country.

Tonight, read Micah 7:18-19 once, slowly. And if your church offers confession, this week ask a priest or pastor to say the words of forgiveness to you aloud.

[Bible Nudge](https://biblenudge.com/) offers one passage with the verses around it, for whatever you are carrying. [Find a passage](https://biblenudge.com/nudge).

## Words that come up here

Tap a term to see what it means.

**Absolution.** A declaration of forgiveness spoken by a priest or pastor, sacramental in Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches.

**Justification.** A Protestant word for God's gracious declaration that a person is accepted, by grace rather than by their own effort.

**Teshuvah.** Hebrew for return; in Jewish teaching, repentance with spoken confession and changed conduct.

**Chesed.** The Hebrew word behind "loving kindness," also meaning covenant loyalty and steadfast love.

**Rachaq.** The Hebrew word behind "removed" in Psalm 103:12, meaning to put far away.

**Temporal punishment.** In Catholic teaching, the consequences of sin that can remain after its eternal punishment is forgiven.

**Restitution.** Giving back or making good what was taken from someone.

**Scrupulosity.** Religious or moral obsessions, which the International OCD Foundation treats as a form of OCD.

**Yahweh.** The personal name of God in the Hebrew Bible, printed where many translations have "the LORD."

**Yom Kippur.** The Jewish Day of Atonement.

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## Related Articles

- [Bible Verses for Guilt and Shame: As Far as the East Is From the West](https://biblenudge.com/blog/bible-verses-for-guilt-and-shame): For anyone who has confessed it, apologized, tried to put it right, and still cannot put it down. One passage that describes, rather than instructs.
- [I Keep Committing the Same Sin: Will God Still Forgive Me?](https://biblenudge.com/blog/i-keep-committing-the-same-sin): Fell into the same sin again? What the main traditions say about coming back, why a pattern repeats, where help is, and Psalm 103 for the morning after.
- [Is Masturbation a Sin?](https://biblenudge.com/blog/is-masturbation-a-sin): No Bible verse names it, and churches answer differently. What Scripture says in its setting, what each tradition teaches, and where to turn with the guilt.