Forgiveness

I was reflecting on my past this week.

I was a mess when I was younger.

Got married young.
Thought I knew what I was doing.
Didn’t.

I was figuring life out in real time
and leaving a trail of debris behind me.

There were conversations I wish I could redo.
Reactions I wish I could take back.
People who felt the weight of who I was before I knew better.

I needed forgiveness more times than I can count.

Not the surface kind.
The kind that looks at the damage and stays anyway.
The kind that absorbs what it didn’t deserve.

That kind changes you.

And if I’m honest,
I still find myself needing grace.

A ton of it.

Maybe the reason I feel compassion now
is that I remember what it felt like to need it.

I don’t see people the same anymore.

When someone falls short,
I don’t just see the moment.

I see the version of me
who was still learning
and hoping someone wouldn’t walk away.

Forgiveness doesn’t erase what happened.
It just decides that the past doesn’t get the final word.

I’m grateful for the people who gave that to me.
I didn’t earn it.
I needed it.

And now, I try to give it the same way.

Not because it’s easy.
But because I remember.

Where have you needed grace lately... or struggled to give it?

---

Subscribe:

One thought, every weekday morning, straight to your inbox for free!

#FirstLightBlog #Forgiveness #Growth #Leadership #Faith #Grace