I’ve met so many high-achieving people — and I count myself among them — who quietly believe self-compassion is somehow beneath them. That grace is for other people’s mistakes, not their own.
Jesus in the Garden
I think about Jesus in Gethsemane often, sweating drops like blood, asking the Father directly if the cup in front of Him could be taken away. That, to me, is the clearest, rawest picture of holy self-compassion anywhere in Scripture. He was honest about His pain. He asked, out loud, for relief. If He could do that in the hours before the cross, so can we.
A Question Worth Sitting With
I ask myself often, on the days I’ve failed badly especially as a parent– ‘ am I truly a compassionate person?’ Not only to the people I find easy to love, but to myself. It’s worth asking yourself the same thing today.
Compassion Isn’t Weakness
Compassion that leads to action — not just pity — is the same compassion that moved Jesus to heal the people around Him. Being compassionate to yourself doesn’t make you soft. It makes you sustainable.
If you’ve spent years mistaking harshness for striving for holiness, I wrote a whole chapter in ABCs of Wellness Through Biblical Wisdom to help you finally lay that down. Self compassion does not cause you to remain bound by your weakness but helps you shift your focus on God whose power and love can save, comfort and heal you to be the best version of yourself.
