Dear Younger Me

If you’re like me, I’m sure you have some things in your life that you regret.  Words that you wish you would have said, or words that you wish you could take back.  Actions that you wish you had taken, or things you wish you hadn’t done.  Opportunities that you missed or allowed to pass you by.  Perhaps some things that have completely altered the course of your life and/or someone else’s life.

Our mistakes can be our best teachers if we learn from them, but they can also be our biggest sources of heartache if we don’t release them.  We may forgive other people, be forgiven by other people and understand that God forgives us, yet not forgive ourselves.  Or we may look back on events and feel the pain as vividly now as we did back then.

That certainly is the case for me.  I have a hard time extending grace to myself.  And there are some things in my life that I look back on as early as childhood that still cause me pain.  I look back at the younger Chelli and want to offer her comfort, wisdom, and guidance.  I want to free her from the things that held her in bondage.

Oh if I had only known then what I know now, how different would my life have been?  How much pain would I have spared myself and others?

Do you ever think things like that?  Do you ever wonder what you would tell your younger self if you had the opportunity?  While we would probably all want to say and do some things differently, would we actually do so?  And if we did, would that alter the courses of our lives and the people we have become?

I would have to say so.

There is a song by the band Mercy Me called “Dear Younger Me” which I think expresses this concept beautifully.  I actually cried the first time I heard it.

The song starts off with the person questioning what he would tell his younger self.  He ponders if he tells his younger self all that he has learned, he could be a step ahead.  He could save himself a lot of pain.  He could get the most out of life.  But then he questions if he would change the choices that he made, because those were the choices that made him who he is now.  He expresses that if he knew then what he knows now, condemnation would have had no power and his joy and pain would not have been his worth.  He then concludes with this:

Dear younger me

It’s not your fault

You were never meant to carry this beyond the cross

Dear younger me

You are holy

You are righteous

You are one of the redeemed

Set apart a brand new heart

You are free indeed

Every mountain every valley

Thru each heartache you will see

Every moment brings you closer

To who you were meant to be

Dear younger me, dear younger me …

God calls us to a life of freedom.  He wants us to let go of anything that holds us in bondage, including our regrets.  He wants us to give Him our pain and allow Him to heal our broken hearts.  He wants us to live a life full of grace and forgiveness.  A life where we are able to learn from our mistakes and allow experience to be our teacher.  A life where every day is a new day where we have a chance to grow and allow Christ to express His life through us in richer and greater ways.  A life where we are able to identify with others because of similar struggles we have faced and to be a source of strength and encouragement to them.  A life where we can rest in the truth that we are redeemed and loved by God.  A life where we can freely love others.  And a life where we can freely love ourselves.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” – Romans 8:1-2 (NIV)