Forgiveness

     Have you every wondered why it is easier to forgive someone
who hurts us then forgiving ourselves? Isn't it funny(not ha! ha!
funny) that a friend or loved one can make a mistake that affects
us in a big way yet we still find a way to forgive that person!
    I have been thinking about that a lot lately. Last week, I 
had to exercise my forgiveness muscle a whopping seven times
in one day! That seems like an awful lot of forgiving, especially for one twenty-four hour period doesn't it?
   On the other hand, given the number of times the Word of
God tells us we should forgive those who hurt us, a mere seven 
times is a piece of cake. Never the less, why is that it always seems
easier to forgive others than it is to forgive ourselves? 
   I of course don't know for sure, I can only speak for myself
but I am pretty sure it boils down to one word, "mercy". Sometimes
I think that I have a lot of it for others but not much for myself.
If I had to give an answer as to why that is, I believe I would have
to say that perhaps I don't think I deserve it!
   The truth is I would be right, I am right. I don't deserve
mercy, I can't  purchase or earn it either! Instead I just have
to give it freely to others, and accept it readily for myself! Mercy
is God's gift to us,mercy is our Lord Jesus Christ freely given
to us!
     That being the case, I must forgive myself, If God has
loved me enough to send His only Son to die, that I may live,
then I, you, must forgive ourselves as He has forgiven us.