Let It Go

Why does God tell us to forgive?  Is forgiveness for the other person or for ourselves?  What keeps us from forgiving others? 

We all at some point have had things other people have said to us that hurt us.  The question is, will we hang on to it?  Or will we let God TAKE it? 

Jesus said, "Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest."  What do you need to give to God?  What do you need to lay down at the cross?  What have you been holding onto too long? 
 
Watch this :)
http://skitguys.com/videos/item/baggage-skit

I love the first scene of when he was a kid.  "Sticks and stones may break by bones and words will always hurt me" is how the phrase should go. 

Kids can be very mean to each other.  Luckily I don't have any baggage from things other kids said though.  Luckily my friends as a kid were always pretty nice to me.

But then I hit adulthood. 

In the video when he was a teen he was betrayed by his best friend. 

I have been there several times, too many times to count.  You trust people and then you feel stupid for trusting them.

Then the scene with his dad.  Every single one of us has been hurt by our parents at some point. 

And then the last scene where he takes it all out on someone else.  I could relate to that as well.


Here's a great song on this topic....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdWO88ZVurU

I love the line, "How can you move?  When they're weighing you down.  What can you do?  When you're tied to the ground.  You carry your burdens....just let them go....there's freedom in release."

Why do we hold onto things? 

"Open up your heart, lay down your guard, you don't have to be afraid."

We hold onto past hurts to prevent ourselves from being HURT again.  That is why we remember things and refuse to forget them.  It's a way of self-protection.  We put up walls.   We might be lonely, but hey, at least we're safe right?

Many people do this even in the midst of a relationship.  The couple who has drifted apart and just doesn't say much to each other anymore.  They are so tired of being hurt they just stop wanting to connect.  Cause when you connect you open yourself up for the other person to hurt you, don't you?

And why would we trust any fallen human being with our hearts?  lol That is why love is crazy.  Or love is blind they say, because if we looked at it logically it doesn't make any sense.  Think about it.  We know that people are fallen and broken and we still open up our hearts up to each other.  Why? 

Because life is miserable if we don't.   

Joyce Meyer says, "When you wall others out, you wall yourself in."  And God said to her once, "Your husband WILL hurt you, but I can HEAL you."

People will hurt you.  It is inevitable.  But if we don't take the risk to love, to care, we will never be really living will we? 

The world is not what it was meant to be.  In the original creation, imagine how free Adam and Eve must have felt?  They had never been hurt.  They had never known pain.  I wonder what life was like for them.....

I bet they were incredibly happy.  I bet they never worried about anything.  I bet they loved life and embraced every moment fully, openly, and unashamedly. 

May God bring us back to how we were created to be.  May he help us all to be re-born and trust others again.  May he heal all the hurts we have from people closest to us. 

Grace and peace be with you!  :)