forgive yourself

Matthew 26: 27-28

27Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."


I was reflecting on the day last night, and thought about regret. It got me to thinking there is a key piece to letting go of regret, and that is forgiveness. I always talk about forgiveness of others, but I do not talk enough about the most important part of forgiveness, and that is the act of forgiving ourselves. I hear people say it all of the time, “ I would never forgive my self if….” Or how can I forgive myself since I…..” what you put in the blank is not really important. What we have to realize is that by making that statement, we are breeding regret.

We have to allow forgiveness for ourselves, yet so often that is the one person that we hold the most resentment against. I believe that people who are trying to live a good Christian life are even more susceptible to this. We spend a lot of our time reading the word, learning how to try and walk in the footsteps of Christ. As a result we tend to hold ourselves to a standard of perfection. It is a standard that we will never reach. The New Testament is full of many different people preaching about forgiveness, even Christ himself spent time making sure that we understood that He was the ultimate gift of salvation. Christ understood that we always have been, and always will be imperfect. If the picture of perfection can live with our imperfection, then we must certainly learn to understand, and accept it within ourselves.

I am not saying that anything goes, but I believe we need to learn to treat ourselves better. We have to offer ourselves the same care and understanding that we are so eager to give to others. If Christ can love us in spite of our flaws, then we must learn to love ourselves. The first step to that, as with any relationship here on earth, starts with forgiveness, without it the bitterroot of regret will spring forth. That bitterroot will take hold and start to cut us off, not just form those we are trying to help, but from Christ himself. It is my prayer that we can all offer ourselves the gift of forgiveness. The Lord has already given it to us, but like so many things in our spiritual life, we have to accept it, and take it in for it to be of use in our growth. SO be gentle with yourself, if we are to love our neighbor, we must first love ourselves, and that love starts with forgiveness.

Peace,
Rev. Thetford