I probably titled the topic wrongly,  in typical ARFCOM  fashion...

At almost 63 years of age I find myself feeling like I need to let go of my past memories that seem to haunt me on a daily basis.

I'm aware that  God forgives me, but I can't seem to understand why I can't or won't forgive myself.

Help me,  please.
The peace that surpasses all understanding evades me.

Apologize to the people you feel you did wrong by and work to make amends with them.

God made shrinks to help us with stuff like that. A lot of people find them helpful. No reason to not see one (or more).

I have struggled with this myself for years, I try to remember this when I struggle:

Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT

SPNI

You'd be surprised how stupid the stuff in your head sounds once you start talking it out with someone who can help.

God forgives and then forgets it (Hebrews 10:17,Micah 7:19,Isaiah 43:25-26,Acts 3:19 etc...)

You must forgive even yourself if you want to be forgiven (Matthew 6:9-15)

My sincere question: Is it that you cannot forgive yourself or is it you cannot forget your past? There is a huge difference here.

As much as we want to be like God we will never be remotely close to what God is, so some of us simply do not have the capacity to forget. I am one of those. I was once a violent monster before I knew Christ and while I have forgiven myself and sometimes get a little stuck thinking back, it is just human of us. For me the key is staying in the presence of the Holy Spirit by reading the bible or getting devotionals or praying or church or whatever it is that keeps me grounded. Without the constant connection to the Lord, the old creeps in and scares the poop out of me so staying in the word is my advice. Peace does come but no one said it comes easy.

When I think back to a regret or mistake in my past, I think about titties to put it out of my mind.  

Give that a shot.

Surrender the past to God's mercy.
Surrender the future to God's providence.
Grace is only given in the present tense.

Rom 8:1
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

I can get more Scriptures that support this if you like,
Paul referred to being "In Christ" and you are in Christ the moment you are Saved / Born again.
God not only forgives but also forgets your sins and failures.

If God will not bring up your past, then neither do you.
That's the devil playing mind games with you. Been thru it myself.

5:19 Because, as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by the obedience of One many will be made righteous.
5:20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
5:21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God has forgiven you, so you can forgive yourself.

This is a podcast I recommend to anyone struggling with their performance:

Op, we do not see anything in Scripture about forgiving ourselves. We have where God forgives us, we forgive others and we repent of our wrong.

Instead, the idea of forgiving yourself for self peace seems to come from a Buddhist idea from what I have studied. This is not saying I am an expert but just what I have seen.

Instead, if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, HE has forgiven you.

The guilt is a mechanism God made for two things. First is to bring us to repentance and second is to help keep us from falling or is a motivation to not fall again.

There are a lot of good verses here so I will not belabor those. Allow His Spirit to give you His peace. Don't allow Satan to misuse the guilt.

If you are forgiven, you are forgiven indeed.

ETA: Edited reading and flow.

You told him the same thing I did.

Claiming something is Buddhist doesn't make it wrong - that's just trying to poison the well. Forgiving yourself and self-peace is taught in the New Testament (Hebrews 9:14, 10:22; 1 Tim 1:19); the difference is that the source is Christ for us, and the Buddist seeks it through religious acts.

Thank you all.

That sounds like Chinese style “fake” Buddhism. It doesn’t sound like “real” Buddhism, which isn’t based on acts or worship but rather on the internal state.

As far as Christian ideas, I keep coming back to the fact that there are happy and unhappy, guilt-ridden and non-guilt-ridden Christians. I don’t think the difference is what they’ve done, since they’ve all presumably repented and been forgiven by God. It leaves me thinking that the problem isn’t based on a misreading or scripture or lack of understand of the Bible, but rather a personal problem to be worked out with a pro, the same way someone’s depression or OCD would be.

Look at the Christian approach to Alcoholism. Christians don’t say “look at this passage”. They say “here’s some inpatient and outpatient treatment programs, some medications, a shrink and also this nice passage in the Bible.

This is a psych issue. Of course your pastor and the Bible can help, but it’s personal, deep rooted and complex and it’s not coming from religion. It’s coming from a psych problem.

^ Wise lady monkey

Mixing I Buddhist and Christ is wrong.

I do agree with half of your statements. It is God that forgives us. But in all three passages, there is not a thing we can do to earn or have it. 1 Timothy is one where it tells us to keep.

However, in Hebrew's and Timothy we have something done TO us from an outside source. That being God who gives us clear conscience.

Our only part is accepting of the work of the Holy Spirit. We can't do it though. We have no part. Saying we can forgive ourselves is almost giving us as Mankind hope we can "pick ourselves up by our bootstraps".

Unless, of course, I am misunderstanding what is being said and meant.

I think you're reading waaaay to much into it.

Having a clear conscience is kind of the point. It is saying, "well God has forgiven me, so who am I to accuse myself"? It's not "picking yourself up by your bootstraps".

BTW, all truth is God's truth. If a Buddhist says the sky is blue, that doesn't make it wrong for a Christian to say the sky is blue also. Again, the difference between the two beliefs is that the Buddist looks to himself and his works alone, and the Christian looks to Christ and His works.

Ok. I think I was reading into it then. I just want to make sure that truth is not being diluted. I am part of a denomination where there is a broad spectrum of people. Some I heard takes the teachings of Jesus and the Scriptures and lowers them to the teachings and writings of other religions and that was what I was reacting to.

Seeing what you are saying, I believe I may have been reading too much. Sorry.

For the OP: Satan will use guilt (which is an emotion God does give us) and he will use it to a wrong end. Be on guard for that.

If you are at this point, you have punished yourself and suffered enough.  Guilt and regret are personal prisons. They are only a personal hell as long as you think you deserve to be in it.

Haven’t you been punished enough?