Last month, I shared with you how God inspired me to write a letter to my younger self. Doing this created a special time of reflection for me. This experience has allowed me to:

See how God has moved throughout my life.
Identify unforgiveness of myself and others so I can walk in obedience, forgiveness, and freedom.
Use this time of journaling/writing to encourage myself when future disappointments happen.
Encourage others about the beauty of His loving hand as evidenced in my life.

Have you ever wondered what you would say to the younger you, if you had the opportunity to write a letter with the perspective you have today?

What would you say? How would you say it?

Here is what I said:

Dear Diana – Age 15

There’s so much I want to say to you but don’t know where to start.

I know that sometimes you cry because you are so scared of your dad coming home drunk and screaming at your mom or at you and your sister. You don’t know what to expect day to day. I want to share with you that God is with you and sees every tear you cry.

You’ve felt that there’s so much uncertainty and instability in your life, He is right beside you holding you. You live a life of fear and intimidation, but Dad is not representing God in the right way because there is no fear in love and God’s Word says that perfect love casts out all fear.

God will not withhold his love from you like the people in your life have. I know it’s because you haven’t received the right kind of love from Dad that you have made bad decisions. You have accepted false representations of love from boys and young men.

When you accept Jesus in your heart, God will make you a new person and redeem those experiences. Jesus died on the cross for your sins and mistakes. There will be no more guilt, no more condemnation, and no more shame.

The devil will try to convince you that you aren’t forgiven, but Jesus paid the highest price…His death for your salvation, forgiveness, deliverance, and healing of your pain. And as far as the east is from the west, that’s how far God has removed your sins from you.

The empty void that you feel inside, that doesn’t seem to get filled, will overflow with God’s love, mercy, tenderness, joy, and peace. You will no longer feel alone and forgotten. I want you to know that God has created YOU with a divine purpose and plan. That He thought about you before He placed you in your mother’s womb. His plans for you are for your good and not for evil and to give you a hope and a future.

I know it’s so hard to see this beautiful future. There is so much more to endure before believing and living its truth, but it’s true. The inadequacy of how you feel now will develop and turn into an assurance because you are the daughter of not just any god but the most High God, Creator of Heaven and earth, The King!

Your inadequacy will turn into authority because you are His child. Hold on! Don’t get discouraged. Don’t give up. God has given you gifts and talents that He hasn’t given to anyone else. Use them!

God has forgiven you and you are commanded to forgive others. He will continue to forgive you, so you will not be bitter and make decisions out of your wounds. Forgive, just as you have been forgiven!

God will demonstrate deep love from His Holy Spirit; this will be one of the ways God demonstrates how alive He is today. So love others just as He loves you!

__________________

I’m sharing this personal writing because maybe you can identify with my pain. I want you to be encouraged. I hope that the healing I’ve experienced will give you hope to go through a time of reflection that can lead to your own healing. This freedom is available to you. My healing only happened by developing a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is that relationship with Him that has allowed me to forgive. If you don’t know Him, I pray you will open your heart and take the best step of your life; to accept Jesus into your heart and life today.

Diana Jones is a compassionate wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. She is passionate about sharing God's love and all that He has done throughout her life. She is also looking for opportunities to grow spiritually through reading, prayer, singing, and being in fellowship with others. She is thankful for the opportunity share her stories here at Circles of Faith. You can follow her at Twitter.