To believe that you are so horrible and your deeds or sins so wretched ushers in the lie that you are far too unworthy to receive the forgiveness of God- let alone be loved by Him.

I have lost count how many Alcoholics or addicts I have met over the years who believe this lie to be true. It is the lie that keeps some of them  drinking or doing drugs. There is the addiction aspect for certain, but when you dig down, the sense of unworthiness will often be uncovered. 

In the old hymn "The Love of God" it says that God's love reaches down into the lowest hell. I believe this truth with my whole heart. I prayed for years that my dad or my brother would believe it too. Perhaps towards the end of their lives they did believe it. I do not know for sure. 

John Newton was a slave trader born 1725 and lived until December 1807. He spent years as a heavy drinker, some books say he was also a gambler. He considered himself an athiest though he was taught as a young boy about Jesus from his mother. He lived a wretched life, ruining his own life and the lives of many others. When he was at sea, a huge storm came and the ship was sinking, it was then he began to call out to God for help. 

His journey of faith was what lead him to write an old favorite hymn of many " Amazing Grace". It is a potent truth he penned in that old hymn. He was a man who knew that it was indeed "amazing grace" that gave to him, once and for all the peace and forgiveness his heart longed for. 

God's grace and forgiveness is offered to all of us. He looks for the heart that is willing to turn away from that which is destroying their lives and confess their sins before God. Then the harder part it seems is to receive the forgiveness God is offering and then- to forgive themselves. This can be the hardest part but crucial in the healing of the troubled should regardless of the brokenness that brought you to His feet. 1 John 1:9 we read God's promise of His full forgiveness. There is  no list attached to the verse explaining who is excluded. It is for everyone who comes.