The key to receiving blessings and protection all falls on you and your choices. To unlock the door to peace starts and ends with forgiveness. Psalm 88:12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10 In taking our sins to the “land cut off” and to the “land of forgetfulness,” they are not merely paid for but ultimately forgotten. Jesus paid the price for all sin this the father has cast them into the land of forgetfulness. A place where all sin goes never to return or be brought up. This means if you bring up your sin, whether past, present or future, none of the trinity will know what you are talking about. All they ask is for you to do the same.
Forgiveness means to forget. Never to be brought up. Out of sight and mind. Jesus said at the cross to forgive them for they know not what they do. After his atonement, the father did. Otherwise, why ask and not be heard? Jesus meant all of us. Past, present, future. Not the ones who were crucifying him. This is the hardest thing to do for us. The word sorry holds no weight. A grudge can live a lifetime. Shame is the culprit. Bringing up old hurting that can seem shameful for ourselves, often stop us from forgiving others. Like you lost the upper hand, therefore not forgiving someone for what they did and keeping on punishing them gives us the feeling of having the upper hand. Controlling our narrative by guarding our heart.
So, in order to forgive others, you have to figure out why you can’t let go of it after they apologized. People make mistakes but you feel they wouldn’t if you were in control. This means you love yourself more than you love others. You can’t let go because you would never do that. That is the beginning stage of protective narcissism. Building a wall of control to shield you from shame. The internet has been a brilliant test of human character. It’s a protective shield from consequence that allows people to behave how they would behave if there was no shame. We often keep silent on many thoughts we have out of politeness when in front of people but the shield of shame is up and the true nature of the person is revealed in their comments.
Personal examination, reflection and the simple truth needs to be presented if one is to start their journey towards forgetfulness. The first person that needs to be forgave is you. You have to come to the realization that you can’t control anyone else outside of your mind. Mathew 6:4 says For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you and Colossians 3:1:3 says As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. God isn’t saying you have to forgive first between you and him. He simply is saying if you forget the incident, so does he. Memories are a choice, too. You have the power to stop yourself from thinking about it. You can intentionally forget bad memories by filling your mind with more positive things. Your brain has a limited focus, and you can only keep so many thoughts in your immediate sphere of awareness. Try to replace the negative memory by exposing your brain to something brighter.
Action is also important for forgetfulness. You may be confronted by the person who wronged you. What can you do to act like nothing ever happened? Here’s the hard part. Every ounce of our being seems to want to make others hurt. Eye for an eye. But that is Old Testament. The Ten Commandments never worked because we don’t respond to commands in kind. Our fallen nature rebels against it. Our body and soul are an enemy to our spirit. The Bible says the spirit is willing but the soul is weak. I personally have problems with forgiveness. It’s not that I am not willing, my problem is that I was taught to hold grudges. Maybe a generational curse, maybe it’s from trauma, who knows, but what I need to do is unlearn what I was taught. And that is a choice. Like any habit, no one can make you stop something that is toxic. You have to want to change.
Forgiveness is doing something that doesn’t feel normal or right. It goes against our rebellious nature. We try to take control by teaching a lesson in shame and humility to those who cross us. But the only person we are truly torturing is ourselves. That’s the mind. It thinks it’s in the Truman show. Everyone is crazy, but you. Everyone is mean, yet you are a good person. Why would they do this to me? I would never respond like that. It’s like we have temporary amnesia and forget all the times we actually made mistakes. This is why Jesus called us all hypocrites, which is the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform to. Choosing to forget our bad deeds while judging your victim for theirs holding them in contempt. What good does it do? When someone says they are sorry, that should be the end of their sentencing. Paid in full. Practicing such techniques takes a willing heart and a sacrifice to your ego. When you master this and choose to love your neighbor by instant forgiveness, evil can’t touch you and blessings pour over everything you touch.
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