[Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: Make peace with your younger self

Read: Hebrews 5:12-14

Meditation verse:

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a  child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians  13:11).

The transition to middle life is a major season that throws up a lot of emotional  challenges. It is a rude awakening for many people. It is a period of transition  when either or some of three things are happening in your life: you are either struggling with the challenges of the present changes which could be physical  and emotional, or you are bogged down with regrets or mistakes of your past,  or you are discouraged or excited about the prospects of the future. Most  people do a life audit at this phase of their lives. Some do a self-evaluation and feel they are not where they should be. Many begin to question their past  choices. They find themselves looking back at the past with feelings of  inadequacy and regret. Some people may even begin to feel they have wasted  their life.  

Midlife is the period of human adulthood that immediately precedes the onset  of old age, generally between the ages of 40 and 60. Men and women alike tend  to experience a crisis at this phase, but it is more challenging for women,  because of the many challenges of balancing her many roles. So, some roles  would have suffered, leaving regrets in its trail. Whatever your experiences were  in your younger years, you need to forgive and make peace with your younger  self. You may have taken some wrong decisions, made some mistakes or took  some wrong turns in life all of which you now regret because you are suffering  the consequences in your middle years. If truth be told, you did not know better. 

Your forty-five- or fifty-year-old self is much wiser, more thoughtful, stable,  experienced, and knowledgeable than your twenty-five-year-old self. You are  now much more aware of who you are as well as the consequences of your  decisions than you were years ago. The bible puts it aptly “I was a child, I spoke  as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man,  I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11).

IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Pst (Mrs) Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

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