Inspiration

Years ago before we had children, Victoria and I built a home. We didn’t use a professional builder; instead, we decided to contract it ourselves. Overall, the home turned out great. We were very pleased. But after living there a couple of years, I noticed that part of my fence was sagging a little bit. I found out later that I didn’t choose the right-size piers underneath my brick column, and that’s what was causing it to be a little bit crooked. Year after year, it got worse. Every time I drove up to my house and saw my sagging fence, a voice in my head would say, “Why did you try to build this house? You are not a builder. You didn’t know what you were doing. Now you’ve got a crooked fence. You’re neighbors are probably laughing…and how much is that going to cost to fix?” For a while, every time I pulled into my driveway, I allowed that one mistake to sour me, distract me, and steal my joy. But one day, I made up my mind that instead of focusing on the one thing I did wrong, I was gong to focus on all the other things I did right. Yes, I made a mistake, but overall in the big scheme of things, I did a pretty good job. We had hot water and the air conditioner worked perfectly. The floors were solid and the windows were beautiful. There were a thousand things that I did right. So when I drove up, instead of looking at the fence, I started looking at how straight the driveway was. I was happy that my garage doors worked. I was thankful that the roof didn’t leak. From then on, I never allowed that one mistake to steal my joy again.

When you look at your life, what do you see? Do you allow your past mistakes to sour you, steal your joy, and distract you from enjoying all the good things in your life? Everyone makes mistakes, wrong choices, and bad decisions. Sometimes you can do something about them and sometimes you can’t. At some point, you have to decide to forgive yourself and move forward. God has already forgiven you; can you receive His love and forgiveness?

Today is a new day filled with new opportunities to make better choices. Don’t let your past rob you of your future. Make the decision to receive forgiveness so you can focus on what you’ve done right and be empowered to move forward in the good life God has prearranged for you!