It is not what goes into a person that defiles them,
but it is what comes out of them that defiles.
—Matthew 15.11
You are responsible for what you do and say,
not for what others do or say,
not what happens to you.
You have no reason to be ashamed
of something having happened to you,
no matter how humiliating it may be.
Your integrity and dignity are intact.
Look at Jesus, scorned and abused,
but radiant with the glory of God.
You are responsible for your choices,
nothing beyond that.
Let go of your shame.
(Even your mistakes have been given to you.)
What defines your character is not your fate
but how you respond—
and even more than that,
the abiding grace of God in you
that cannot be defiled.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
August 11, 2020