By Jessica Brodie
I’m sure you’ve heard of parents who have one ironclad house rule: no glitter. That’s because glitter is the absolute worst, and I speak from experience. It gets on everything, and even when you think you’ve got every last trace out, nope—it’s still there.
I vividly remember one childhood sleepover my daughter hosted where there was so much glitter embedded into the carpet that we ended up just leaving it. It became a permanent sparkle dot, a gift that passed on to the new owners when our house sold.
But glitter isn’t only for kids. Recently, I put my purse on the floorboard of my car next to a glittery gift bag. I didn’t think much of it, but that night when I set my purse on the table, it was sparkling. Apparently glitter rubs off rather easily—I still can’t get it out. So now I have a sparkly leather purse (and car floorboard).
Of course, it’s not only glitter that sticks onto things and won’t let go. I can think of a bunch of other things in my life that have clung tightly for far too long, everything from toxic habits to bitter grudges about things that happened years in the past. It’s hard to let those things go, too. Sometimes they become like part of your identity, something that’s been on your mind so long it almost defines you. Maybe you experienced intimate partner violence, extreme war trauma, or terrible abuse as a child, and now forevermore you feel like you secretly wear a T-shirt proclaiming your status: Survivor. Maybe you also carry around a hearty dose of blame and anger toward the person who did those things to you.
Or maybe that blame is directed at yourself, and you wear a different kind of secret T-shirt: Sinner. Wrongdoer. “Bad” person. Maybe you did something wrong that you can’t let go of, no matter how hard you try. You know intellectually you are washed clean in Christ, become “a new creation” when you were born again in him (2 Corinthians 5:17), yet the label clings tight in your own mind and conscience. Much like glitter, it’s become an unwanted, seemingly permanent addition to your life.
Here's the thing, though. Even glitter eventually erodes and washes away, though it can take awhile. Yes, even “sparkle dot” in my daughter’s old bedroom carpet can’t endure the passage of time. And our pain, unforgiveness, or self-condemnation are much the same.
In fact, we can choose to set this pain, unforgiveness, or self-condemnation down. Right now.
Choosing to let go of pain doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt. It just means you’re choosing to embrace joy and freedom now, instead.
Choosing to forgive someone who wronged you doesn’t mean there won’t be scars. But it does mean you get the gift of liberation, the breaking of shackles once and for all.
Choosing to end self-condemnation doesn’t erase or negate the power of your repentance for the wrong you did. It simply acknowledges your self-condemnation isn’t part of the equation—the only judgment that matters is the Lord’s, and Scripture tells us we’re forgiven when we confess Jesus is Lord and repent of our sins (1 John 1:6-9). Only God has the power to forgive. We don’t get extra points for repeated flagellation.
On our own, maybe it seems impossible to set down these things and let them go forever. And on our own, perhaps it is. But we’re not alone—we belong to Christ. And as Paul reminds us, we “can do all this through him who gives (us) strength” (Philippians 4:13 NIV).
Is there some glitter in your life that needs to wash away through the power of the Lord? Through him, you can let it go. Remember:
“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”— Matthew 19:26
If I can pray with you, please email me. We walk together.
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