Extend some grace to the person you used to be — she got you to who you are today.

Angel: She is still holding onto that old guilt. She carries it like it’s a permanent part of her identity.

God: She hasn’t realized that the person who made those mistakes doesn’t exist anymore.

She is going to gently thank that younger self for doing her best

– Jacqueline Whitney

Angel: How do we help her see that?

God: We have to show her the proof of her own growth. She looks back at her past self with so much anger, judging her old choices with the wisdom she only has because she survived them.

Angel: She doesn’t see how much she’s changed.

God: She doesn’t. That younger version of her was operating from a place of deep pain and limited vision. She was just trying to find a way through the dark.

Angel: Will she ever let herself off the hook?

God: She will. She is going to realize that continuing to punish herself doesn’t change the past — it just steals her present. She is going to gently thank that younger self for doing her best, and then she is going to finally let her go.

Jacqueline Whitney is the author Held: A 50 Day Devotional For Parents and All That You Deserve.