It
seems everywhere I go these days, I hear the song from Disney's Frozen, Let It Go. I was at the diner the other morning and it
was playing and the song stuck in my head for the rest of the day. "Let it go. Let it gooo".
There's a part in the song
where it says, "I'm never going back.
The past is in the past." After
singing it for the 20th time, I started thinking about the past,
specifically, 2014.
This year has been a challenging one for me to say the least. I would be lying if I said that I didn't pick up an offense or two along the way and held a couple of grudges by the time the spring flowers in were in bloom. But what good did that do me? Thankfully, I didn't let it consume me for too long, because when I think of all the time I wasted being bitter, it was just time wasted.
One
of my favorite quotes is “Unforgiveness
is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die”. This is crazy but it’s so true! While you are going through all of the
bitterness and anger, the other person feels nothing. They could care less. Why not just forgive them and move on? Why not just let it go?
It
sounds like a simple task. There have
been many books written about it and just as many sermons preached on it. So, why is it that we find it so hard to
do? It’s almost like a bad habit. Let’s take smoking as an example. If you want to stop smoking, the trick is
that there is no trick. You have to just
make the decision to stop. It is the same
thing with unforgiveness. You have to make the
decision to forgive the person who wronged you and go on with your life. When you don’t forgive, you are the one that
is missing out on life. You are the one
that is being hurt. You are the one that
is drinking the poison.
As
we go in to 2015 and I am looking towards a brand new year with new opportunities,
I am excited by what is to come. I am thinking
about today and anticipating what God has for me for the future. Life is short. Spending time thinking about the past and griping
over how people have done you wrong is time you will never get back.
One
thing that I never claim to be is perfect.
I have to remind myself, why do I look for perfection in others? We are only human. We are bound to hurt each other eventually. Though sometimes the blows seem to come one
after another like the final round in a match with Ali, we have to remember
that there is grace. As we are shown
grace, we have to extend grace. I refuse
to be shackled because of unforgiveness.
I refuse to let unforgiveness manifest itself in me, making me a bitter
and angry person without a light.
Take
Paul’s advice to the people in Ephesus:
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put
away from you, along with all malice. 32Be
kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ
forgave you. (Ephesians
4:31-32 ESV)
So
as you are saying good bye to 2014 and you’re looking at the year in review,
don’t reflect on the hurts. Forgive. Start 2015 with a clean slate and a clean
heart and truly let it go.
Mending Maria
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