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Good Morning 3M,
With all of us amid the holiday season, we are likely to encounter family, friends, and enemies. Old acquaintances inevitably will remind you of some of your old mistakes. Mistakes you have long forgotten and grown from, but people love to put you in a box and keep you there because it always helps them maintain a sense of superiority. You are the person who divorced or had children out of wedlock or dropped out of college or destroyed your credit etc. etc.
It is the unearthing and proclamation of your continual mistakes and imperfections that enables others to hide theirs and appear more perfect.
This is a societal illness that traverses families as well as the church. This is why so many people never feel quite perfect or good enough.
The Apostle Paul, who was a pardoned murderer, often spoke about his battle with being human. To paraphrase he said "every time I wish to do right, wrong is right there" and "the things I ought to do. I do not do but rather choose the wrong thing because of the evil that dwells in me." Paul asked God to take this dilemma away and God's response was "My grace is sufficient."
In other words, perfection is not expected of you. On the contrary, you are expected to make mistakes, and you can still expect God's forgiveness.
So why do we continually ostracize those that live differently from us? Why do many of us cloak our imperfections while making others feel inadequate for not reaching our level of perfection?
This holiday season is the time to start practicing true forgiveness and acceptance. However, this forgiveness and acceptance must start with ourselves. Forgive yourself for the things you have done wrong and accept that you are still a worthy individual. You may have to climb out of the very box people have put you in. but you must do it.
Many of us have not realized that the opinion of others has been verbalized to us so repetitively that we actually have accepted it as true.
His Grace is sufficient
Be kind to yourself
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