Forgive Your Past Self

By Dinny

There once was a butterfly that died and went to heaven. Before meeting God, the butterfly was very tense, burdened by guilt over the mistakes it believed it had made.

When it finally met God, He smiled warmly and asked,

“Why are you so troubled, my child?”

The butterfly replied,

“I committed so many sins. Because of me, many plants withered. I was too competitive—I insulted others, mocked them, and took more than I needed. I even destroyed an entire lemon plant by eating all its leaves myself. I fear I kept others from becoming butterflies because of my selfishness.”

God listened and then said gently,

**“My dear, all those things you speak of—you did them out of ignorance. You were not a butterfly then. You were a worm. You see, butterflies are not born with wings. First, they are small worms, then caterpillars, then they wrap themselves in cocoons. Only after breaking free do they finally become butterflies.

The mistakes of your past life as a worm or caterpillar—those belong to the past. You cannot change them. And I have never kept a record of them; I don’t even think about them.

What I don’t understand is this: when you finally became a butterfly, when you had wings and could fly anywhere, why didn’t you? Why didn’t you explore the world, enjoy your freedom, and savor the beauty of life? Why did you hold yourself back?”**

The butterfly had no answer. It was silent.

This story is not really about a butterfly and God—it is an analogy for us, as humans, and our relationship with life.

When we were children, like worms, we didn’t have freedom or money to live fully. As we grew older, like butterflies, we gained wings—opportunities, resources, and the ability to choose. Yet many of us postponed truly living. We stayed in the same places, with the same routines, holding ourselves back even when we had the chance to soar.

God does not keep a ledger of our sins or mistakes. What He may ask us one day is:

“When you had the freedom, the means, and the wings to live—why didn’t you?”

So forgive your past self. It did the best it could without the knowledge of wings you have now. But don’t waste the gift of flight—live, explore, and truly embrace the life you’ve been given.

By Dinny