“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you…” Mark 11:25 AMP
Being able to forgive is not an easy thing to do. I believe God intentionally programmed it to be a challenging act, because in the act of forgiving, we are being forced to participate in an exercise we don’t like to do…self-reflect. However, in doing this we eventually are liberated from the pain that consumed us, making more room for God to enter the cleared space and in turn us becoming stronger Christians.
Going through the exercise of forgiveness forces us to have to face our hurt, embrace our hurt, express our hurt and….the hardest part of all….release our hurt. However, it is in the release that we find real happiness and liberation. How many of us can say we have experienced that? And, if we have, can we say that we experience it all the time, or just once or twice a year?
If we are honest with ourselves, we tend to carry around more hurt than we release. Well, let me be honest, I have grown in this area because years ago, boy could I hold a grudge. I mean, if you said or did something wrong to me, that was wrap….the door to the relationship was shut, never to be reopened. And, folks who have been in my space for longer than a minute can attest to that testimony. And, I mean testimony, because that was yesterday….today really is different. I have grown in how I handle hurtful situations. And, although it is not in EVERY situation that I make it to the release stage (work in progress), I arrive there more times than before. The difference between then and now is I pray.
In developing a stronger prayer life, I have arrived at a place where I know that it is only because of the grace God gives me that literally I am still alive…right now. And, if God’s grace is given to me through His forgiving me for my many sins, I have no other choice but to give the same grace to others. As I always say, “Don’t cast a stone you are not ready to receive”…meaning, we ALL have fallen short, made mistakes, are even doing something that God doesn’t approve of right now…so, how dare we not make a sincere/deliberate attempt to forgive someone for hurting us? Not forgiving, but wanting to be forgiven is clearly the definition of hypocrisy!
So, I encourage each of you to take a moment to pray to God. Your only request should be, “God, show me where I am failing to release a past or present hurt. Forgive me for holding on to it. And, bless the person who is attached to it, so that we are both healed. Thank you for the liberation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Now, get ready for your breakthrough and new found/never before experienced happiness and peace.
Walk in faith. Live in love.
Mo Wood
