Feeling Forgiven?

What do you think about this quote from Bishop's Carder's book, Living our Beliefs?

One person said to me, “If you don’t feel forgiven and saved, you haven’t been.”  Or, behavior is often justified with a simple explanation, “It feels right.”  Feeling of certainty, optimism, excitement, serenity or “peace of mind” become of the goals and tests of religious devotion.  While valuing and affirming feelings and emotions, Methodism has never defined Christians discipleship as subjective feeling. 

Have you been forgiven?  Do you doubt the power of God's grace?  Haven't we heard the words of assurance that we have been forgiven?  Do we doubt those words?

And yet, I understand.  In my life, I have often sinned against God, against family, friends, people I don't even know, and people I love dearly.  I know that God forgives me, and I know that other people have forgiven me.  And even so, I still feel guilty; there are times when I do not feel forgiven.

Why would I ever think that my ability to feel forgiven has any bearing on another person (or God's) ability to forgive? 

There are those who have hurt me (or those I love) who I have forgiven, and they don't even know about my forgiveness, or even that I have been hurt.  The forgiveness is real, but it doesn't depend at all on someone else.

Feeling forgiven has nothing to do with being forgiven.  Feeling forgiven has to do with our own sense of guilt, and our relationship with other people and with God.  It's an issue we need to deal with, but it doesn't mitigate how much and how often we have been forgiven.  It certainly doesn't change the power of Christ's death and of God's grace.  We are forgiven