I won’t let you nail me to that cross,

Not even one more time.

Jesus died for our sins

So I don’t have to die for mine.

I’ve confessed and repented

Reformed and relented

But you refuse to let that be the end.

It seems you want to shame me

Rub my nose in those old mistakes

For which I’ve already atoned,

But I won’t let you shame me – not anymore.

Perhaps you’re ashamed of your own faults,

The ways in which you hurt me.

Because if I remain “more guilty” than you,

Your own sins are more-easily eclipsed.

I understand if the guilt is suffocating,

It strangled me once too.

I had to struggle, and claw, and fight

To return to being me…

to forgive myself

to love myself

to find the will to live again.

And to understand the delicate difference

Between Pain & Suffering

I have learned to endure the pain;

To weather the storm.

I have learned how to survive it.

I have learned to let pain be my teacher

And save the struggle for an enemy other than suffering.

***