A Message to Brighten Tomorrow ／ Written by Masami Saionji
You must forgive yourself.
This is the most fundamental and important truth.
No matter what sins you may have committed in the past, that is in the past, and your life is about to be shaped independently of it in the present.
You need to forgive yourself more, to look at yourself with more generosity, but why can’t you do that?
It is because deep in your heart, there is a part of you that believes you are a sinner, a tainted person, a despicable being, different from others.
But that is not the case.
Everyone is originally a child of God.
It is foolish to continue dragging the wounds of a past that has already disappeared, unable to forgive the sins, and keep living with that burden in your heart.
That foolishness might be acceptable if it only affected your own life;
no matter how much you hurt yourself or fall into self-loathing, it’s your own business.
However, the true gravity of the sin lies in the fact that your thoughts do not remain confined to yourself.
A heart that cannot forgive itself turns into a heart that cannot forgive others.
A heart that cannot love itself turns into one that cannot love others, and instead, transforms into hatred.
That is why God preaches the truth of forgiving and loving oneself.
A person who truly cannot love themselves cannot possibly love others.
How can a person who truly cannot forgive themselves forgive others?
Even if you pretend to forgive and love others, it is hypocrisy.
It is not an act that comes from your true heart.
That itself is an act of hypocrisy.
Look at the world around you.
People who truly love and forgive others are those who first love and forgive themselves.
People who are harsh on themselves, who impose strictness on themselves, do the same to others.
This is because if you are suffering, restricting your freedom, and enduring harshness, you cannot possibly be lenient towards others.
As commonly heard, people who are correct in heart and strictly regulate themselves are harsh towards others as well.
Serious people prefer seriousness. Therefore, they dislike lazy people. They cannot forgive them.
Hardworking people despise those who indulge in play.
Because they are binding themselves with "I must strive, I must study" every day, they cannot understand that enjoying life is the natural way of human existence, closing themselves off in a narrow shell and lacking a heart of tolerance.
They believe that life is not for enjoying but for refining oneself and becoming respectable, suppressing their desire to play and have fun, thereby binding themselves.
But this is not a pure way of refinement.
True joy and true happiness for humans come from being inherently free.
Binding yourself and stripping your freedom is equivalent to regulating and depriving others of their freedom.
Do not become a small perfectionist.
It is important to become a great, great-hearted person who can accept all humanity, becoming a truly magnificent free person.
