Forgiving Myself

Forgiving myself. How many times have you struggled to forgive yourself?

I'm at a point in my life when there are more days behind me than in front of me, and as I look in the rearview mirror I don't always like what I see. I cringe when I think about words I have said, people I have hurt, lessons I have learned, the hard way.

But the important thing is not what I did or said then, it's what I do and say now. That is what we call forgiving ourselves. That is what we call unconditional love, the same kind of love God showers on each of us, and we celebrate this Easter week.

When we love ourselves unconditionally, we release the need to get others to do the job for us.  And it frees us to love them, in the same unconditional way.

So while you may not agree with your spouse, or your partner, or your daughter or your son, you can accept him or her as she is, in fact not only accept but celebrate what makes him or her unique; appreciate him or her, in the same way you appreciate yourself.

So this Easter week, take a moment to tell someone close to you how much you really love them and appreciate them, for exactly who they are. Find that quality in them you don't understand but you know they value in themselves, and say "thank you" for showing up in my life.

Show them, and yourself, the same kind of unconditional love God modeled for us, some  2000 years ago.

Happy Easter,