“My God, what does it mean to forgive?”

“To forgive is to let yourself love again.”

What about taking accountability? What about when the one to be forgiven is not another, but oneself? Where is the line between escaping blame, turning a blind eye to one’s own wrongs, and truly, honestly forgiving oneself?

You need not forgive yourself. You need only recognize that your God forgives you, and that forgiveness is about an opportunity to rectify. No matter how you’ve stumbled, the rest of the staircase to your Father’s house is always there to be climbed. The opportunity for betterment exists always.

No matter how you’ve stumbled on the path, it makes no sense to stay put, to stay seated. Forgiveness of oneself is about the reminder that the destination of love and goodness is always there to be sought.

Forgiveness is about redemption and the promise of redemption. To forgive oneself is about the recognition that the slate can always be wiped clean when the desire is there and true and earnest. It’s the reminder that the love and goodness of this universe is greater than any hurt and wrong we may do to each other.

Forgiveness is about the courage to do better.

Forgiveness, maybe, is about the recognition that the possibility for goodness contained within our future is always infinitely greater than the quantity of bad contained within our past.

Prove your ability to have learned a lesson and grow.