Forgive Yourself This Mother’s Day

Today on Mother’s Day, I’d like for you to give a gift to yourself. Give yourself the gift of forgiveness. Forgive yourself for all of your parenting mistakes, the times you were impatient, the times when you wish you had done better. We mothers pour ourselves into our children with the expectation that if we do everything right, our kids will be, well, maybe not perfect, but terrific.

And I do have terrific kids. But I know that they turned out terrific not because I was a great mom, but because they have a great God. I yelled at them sometimes. I may not have always been excited about huddling under a blanket in the cold rain to watch kids kick a soccer ball. I embarrassed them, annoyed them, and sometimes hovered a little too much. But I think that they have forgiven me for my mistakes. Because I was learning how to parent. And just as I would get one stage of parenting down, then they would grow older and enter a new stage. And I had to learn all over again how to parent this new, older version of my child.

If my children love me and forgive me for not being a perfect parent, I can forgive myself. And you should, too. In fact, you might be surprised to find that Scripture is full of Bible heroes who did a pretty sorry job of parenting. A few examples: Rebecca and Isaac played favorites with their twin sons, setting the stage for ongoing sibling rivalry. Eli the prophet did nothing to stop his evil sons from stealing the meat designated for sacrifice and sleeping with the young virgins who served at the house of the Lord. Amnon, David’s son, raped his half-sister. David’s other son Absalom set up a coup, attempting to dethrone and kill his father. The most amazing part to me is that David went to great lengths to protect the life of his traitorous son Absalom. He grieved deeply when Absalom died in battle. Such is the love of a parent.

Now that my kids are looking forward to having children of their own, and one has a child, I think that they can better understand the love of a parent. And maybe I do, too. So, I can forgive myself, and I can also forgive my own parents for their mistakes. They were great in a lot of ways, but they made mistakes, too. Maybe you had an abusive parent or one who struggled with addiction. Can you grant them the same forgiveness for their mistakes that you need to grant yourself? Because in the long run, there really is only one perfect parent. And I hope that you know Him. If not, please read The Message tab at the top of my blog. Have a blessed Mother’s Day!