"I hate my hair."
"I hate my stomach."
"I hate these wrinkles....
... these pimples
... my job
... my house
... my clothes
... my weight."
"I hate myself."
How often are we our worst critic? How often do we make our own idols out of magazines and TV shows and what we know is happening to everyone else, and not us? How often are we are own worst enemies?
Jesus tells us, in today's reading, that we are to love our enemies. We are to do good to those who mistreat us, bless those who curse us and pray for those who do us wrong. We remind others readily when they've been offended to pray for that rude co-worker, that person cutting us off in traffic or letting us down in any number of ways.
But how often do we turn this inward?
When was the last time you prayed for the body that has betrayed you or the plans that have let you down? When was the last time you lent, "expecting nothing back" from yourself?
In today's Psalm we are reminded to give thanks for exactly how we are made. God knows us, intimately, from that first moment in our Mother's womb. We are a "wonderful" work of His design and when we judge ourselves, we judge His creation.
Take today to stop judging yourself. Stop condemning your body, your work or your experiences. Remember that you are a wondrous creation of a loving God who has promised us that once we stop judging and learn to forgive everything that wrongs us, we will be given gifts overflowing with God's grace; the measure of that Grace will be given from the measure of your own forgiveness.
Go out today and forgive graciously and generously. Remember that in the Lord's Prayer we are forgiven as we forgive others. Start by forgiving from the first moment you look in the mirror.
Remember God's works are wonderful and you are wonderfully made.
Molly Walter is a wife, mother and homemaker (with a pesky job outside the home). She writes at Molly Makes Do about making the life she wants with the life she's been given. You can find out more about her here.
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