One of the more frustrating moments of modern life is to start your computer to find the following message:
Your password has expired. Click ‘Change password’ to change your password.
For most, it is another adventure into the tension of remembering another word.
It happened to Mauricio Estrella one morning. And it hit her on a morning in the middle of a bad year when everything had gone wrong.
She decided to choose a password that would change her life. She entered a new password: “Forgive@h3r.”
When she started her workday, or when returning from lunch, she typed the characters. It reminded her to “forgive herself” and move on.
The way she found to deal with life’s challenges was to remember to forgive herself.
Jesus met a lot of people looking for forgiveness. But the truth is that the most difficult person to forgive is the one that looks back at you in the mirror each morning.
If God’s forgiveness means anything, it means we must also forgive ourselves. Paul knew. His life had turned from the jailing of Christians to proclaim the Christ he had persecuted. He would call himself “the chief of sinners.” He also knew what forgiveness meant. He told Timothy:
“But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.” (1 Timothy 1:16)
Forgiveness from God must include forgiveness from self. Then, forgiveness is complete.The next time God forgives you, don’t forget to do a little forgiving of your own.
-Robert G. Taylor-
