Letting go of things can be challenging. Some people are so hard-pressed to hang on to things, that they unwittingly do so to their peril.
The app Letgo, used for selling items over your phone, illustrates this very idea:

The other day I “cleaned out” the assigned area of the closet I share with my wife; I let go of some things. I was surprised at the amount of clothing that I had accumulated over the years. I have known for some time now that I needed to take care of this.  I kept them stacked, packed, and hung up, but there were too many things in that small space. All these unnecessary clothes were so tightly packed in my closet, that anytime I wanted to wear something, I had to iron it because they were so wrinkled. It came to the point where I would rather just wear sweats and a T-shirt rather than deal with all the ironing. This had become a daily event. So knowing that things needed to go, I pulled out two trash bags full of shirts, pants, and sweaters. I still seriously considered keeping those things. So why have I hung on to these items for so long? Honestly, I thought that I needed to keep them, and some, I didn’t even know where there because they were covered and hidden.
I still have more things I need to get out of my closet!

Many Christians have a difficult time letting go of things, specifically their past sin, and are plagued by false guilt which leads to depression, anxiety, and spiritual paralysis.

What is false guilt? It is the feeling of being guilty when you’re not. This is different than real guilt which is produced through conviction from the Holy Spirit.

A very large contributor to false guilt in the believer’s life comes from Satan.
One of the names the Bible attributes to Satan is the accuser. He is always about accusing the saints. He is also called the father of lies, and the deceiver.

The devil will always bring to your mind how bad you are, how much you sin, and what a hypocrite you are. These attacks from the devil result in us focusing on our sins rather than Christ’s forgiveness. So we mope along; defeated, depressed, and hanging on to past sin that we have been forgiven of.

Christ took on himself the wrath of God, the shame and guilt of sin so we don’t have to. So when we sin, if we confess to God and repent, we are forgiven, it doesn’t matter what the devil says.

“If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9

And what happens to our sin when God forgives us? They are gone!

“As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
Psalm 103:12

So today Christian, rejoice in the completeness of your forgiveness in Christ! That false guilt that you have stacked, packed, and hung on to for years…LET IT GO!