There’s no redemption to be found in our past so don’t keep looking for it there. You will find deliverance in your present and redemption for your future when we esteem the qualities of our better character and virtue that have come from putting wise use to the lessons of the past. We must come to love and accept ourselves in the most unconditional way possible. There has been talk in a previous article about how we should not feel entitled to hate. It is the weakness of many that they should be entitled to the love of another based on what they DO or GIVE. Some feel if they could earn another’s love, they would deserve reciprocation—they would be entitled to their love. Just like the former argument for hate, it seems like it always generates the exact opposite of that strategy’s intent. No one deserves nor are they entitled to the love of another. Unconditional love is not deserved and can not be earned. You cannot give, work, nor earn love. The purest love is given for the best interest of the other not for personal gain nor to fulfill some personal vendetta or a feeling of obligation. That is why there is a great appeal and a proverb to which we must fully agree with Scripture to owe no one anything except that we love them.

I have tried my best to love unconditionally. I have given without thought of repayment and that leaves me with an abundance of joy. Yet, sometimes I think it is the guilt from my past that drives me. I feel the appeal to find redemption from past guilt. It is my daily struggle and something in my prayer life regularly. It is a grateful heart that admits–if I got what I deserved I wouldn’t be here to talk to you.