One day when my son was about 11 years old, he came into our bedroom with his shoulders slumped and said, “The charger is broken- it won’t charge the laptop and it just died”.
My husband brought the laptop into our bedroom and the first thing he checked all the connections on the cord. A few minutes later, I noticed that he had put the laptop down and didn’t seem too worried about it.
“Did you fix it?” I asked.
“Oh, yea I did”, he said. “The connection just needed to be cleaned. It was just dirty. After I cleaned it, it connected just fine and now it is charging.”
It was that simple, a clogged connection.
On our way to church this weekend, Justin’s phone wouldn’t charge…for the same reason. He cleaned it out and it started to work again.
Your connection point to God is your heart.
Your heart is your connection place to God. It is where the power of God fills you and the grace of God heals you. Your heart gets clogged and dirty from the wear and tear of life, with bits of small lies believed or big judgments perceived getting in the crevices.
Your heart needs to be cleaned often.
Forgiveness asked for and given.
Mercy asked for and given.
Tough love asked for and given.
When life seems like it’s just not working right, check your connection point to God and ask Him to clean it.
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Psalm 139:23-24 NIV
It is amazing what a difference it makes when your heart is clear and your connection with God is restored to full power.
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30 NIV
After the trial.
After the judgment.
After the sentencing.
After the shame.
After the pain.
After the spiritual separation.
After the spiritual pain.
Before His final breath.
“It is finished.”
My sin paid for.
My debt paid.
My forgiveness, offered.
My redemption, complete.
My relationship with God, possible.
Before you ever began, He finished it.
Grudges clutter your soul with bitterness and weigh your heart down.
Living hurt because people lied to you in the past does not help you live in peace now.
Nursing the anger of dealing with people whose pride cut your life to shreds doesn’t help you heal but it does keep you emotionally wounded.
When you forgive someone, you are not denying what they did. In fact, you are assigning responsibility for their actions to them. You are acknowledging the truth of what happened and how it impacted you.
Forgiveness is vital to the soul, it is balm and healing, relief and redeeming.
Letting go of a grudge is vital because you are valuable.
What do you need to let go of today?
Who do you need to forgive and give to God?
Forgiveness is not a feeling. It is a choice to let God have it, hold it, and be responsible for it– whatever it is.
“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”
Colossians 3:13 NLT
Forgiveness is taking the power away from them and giving it back to God.
You don’t have to trust them to forgive them.
Forgiveness is not about restoring trust in them, it is about trusting God with your heart.
They don’t have to be sorry in order for you to forgive them.
They don’t even have to know that you have them released them to God.
What you have to do is make the choice to forgive them today and remake that choice every day after.
Eventually the feeling of releasing them to God will line up with the decision.
One day you will be able to remember what happened without reliving the pain what happened.
“When we forgive an offense, we set a prisoner free, only to discover that we were that prisoner”.
– Freedom Groups, Week 7
“My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.”Psalm 25:15 NIV
Here is the thing:The one who hurt you, can’t heal you.
The best way to break the power of the past is to forgive.
Forgiveness is not a feeling it is a choice. A choice to let God have it, hold it, and be responsible for it- whatever it is.
Forgiveness is taking the power away from them and giving it back to God.
You don’t have to trust them to forgive them. Forgiveness is not about restoring trust in them, it is about trusting God with them.
They don’t have to be sorry in order for you to forgive them. They don’t even have to know that you have released them to God.
What you do have to do is make the choice.
And every day after, continue to make the choice until the feeling lines up with the decision.
“The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 MSG
Forgiveness is not about trust, it is about freedom.
What is keeping you from forgiving them?
What are you afraid of?
What does Jesus say about it?
