People who are honestly trying to follow the spiritual life often make the mistake of being too hard on themselves. Because they do not seem to be progressing as fast as they would naturally like, or because they find themselves repeating some old fault that they thought they had completely overcome, they feel discouraged, and condemn themselves mercilessly.
All this is foolish. If you are doing your best to use what Truth you know, at present, you are doing all that you have a right to expect of yourself.
Don’t be impatient with yourself—but this does not mean that you are to be lazy or complacent. Handle yourself as a wise parent handles an obstreperous child—kindly, patiently, but with gentle firmness, not expecting too much too quickly, but foreseeing inevitable growth and improvement.
…and all of you are children of the most high (Psalm 82:6).
This truth is easy to understand and difficult to practice, especially when one deals with chronic faults that one seems to overcome only to have it return in a different guise. The truth is that God does not want us to judge and condemn ourselves or others. Our job is to recognize the truth of our failings, reaffirm our commitment to change and then go back to work on resolving them. If we do this with God’s help, we will find resolution in a way that is good for us. It is also our job to recognize the advances we have made and remind ourselves that we are making progress. It is a fine line between reason and rationalization, and that is the line we must walk if we are to live in our garden.
Z gardener
One tip: we should never say or think anything about ourselves that would offend us if someone said it about our family or friends. God loves us and we should love ourselves, even when we don’t love our behavior.
God’s child,
Good Morning Garden 
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