Forgiveness & Freedom / Part 1

Falling Short

One of the unhappy consequences of being born in a fallen world full of human beings  who don’t know who God made them to be, is that we hurt one another. No one is unscathed. 

It is sadly true that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3 :23). This is why we ALL need a lovely, gracious Savior!

What is NOT true is that sinning makes you or anyone else a sinner. 

What you DO reflects who you believe you are, but what you DO does not DEFINE who you ARE.

Also, what others DO reflects WHO they believe they are, but what they DO does not DEFINE who they ARE either.

 

Sit with that a bit.

 

Who You Are 

Guess Who gets the prerogative of defining who people are?

If you said God – the One Who created all His kids, both obedient and disobedient –  give yourself a gold star! 

Bringing up the truth that we ALL have sinned is not to condemn – there is no condemnation in Christ (Romans 8:1). The fact that all humans have sinned makes a level playing ground. 

However, a level playing ground is also not an excuse to continue in sin.     

We were made in the image and likeness of Love, Himself (1 John 4:8, 16) to love, God, ourselves, and one another. 

Commanded to Love

My definition of sin is violating love. 

When we violate love, we do not know who we are. This is an identity issue. 

If you have never known or have forgotten that you are made in the image and likeness of Love, Himself, you tend to make choices that violate love. 

This is the one commandment we have left – the law of Love! We are commanded to love one another, ourselves, and God (2 John 5-6, John 13:34 – 35). This is Christ’s Law (1 Corinthians 9:21). If you want to dive in deeper to this amazing truth, you can dive into my “Commanded to Love” blog.   

Unfortunately, the human race tends to fall short in the love department. This comes from forgetting we were made in the image and likeness of Love, Himself, and that we feel separated from God. Sometimes we feel  disapproved of, on the outside, and alone. Sometimes we feel like orphans. 

The Malady of the Orphan Heart

The orphan heart is plagued with three things:

1. The chronic feeling of being alone – “I have to take care of myself.” “No on my team.” “It’s all up to me.” 

 

1. Performing to earn everything. This can lead to chronic striving and hyper performance (this was me) or chronic “under performance” because their performance or who they are is never good enough. – “If I do more, then I will be accepted.” “If I do something for someone or God, I am in debt to them.” “Nothing is really free.” 

 

1. Constant wandering – either from thing to thing to thing, or a sense that you can never rest even if you are hugely successful. 

 

When orphan hearts and brokenness in multiple people collide, it is a set up for striving, insecurity, and personal agendas. 

Orphan thinking creates space for the ugliest fallout of the human condition – violating love. Let the carnage begin – yikes! 

Freedom in Forgiveness

God knows all this. 

That is why forgiveness is not a ”religious duty” in the negative sense of the word. It is necessary for freedom – freedom from the people who have hurt us, and freedom from the regret of hurting people. 

Forgiveness doesn’t say that sin  is okay or that reconciliation is required. It simply says that you are allowing God to handle the debt owed to you. Many times, the person who hurt you cannot pay you back or is simply unwilling to. But their inability or unwillingness does not need to keep YOU bound. 

Keeping your Heart Soft

Forgiveness also frees your heart to receive from people and the Lord. 

The old adage, “You can be bitter or you can be better” is very true. 

Bitterness inevitably brings torment and defilement.

The writer of Hebrews was so emphatic about it that they said (Hebrews 12:15, AMPC):

15 Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God’s grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing), in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by it—

You don’t need to be stuck

You don’t need to be stuck. 

You can choose to forgive and release people to God by the GRACE of God.

It is YOUR freedom! 

So, I encourage you to ask the Lord, “Is there is anyone I need to forgive?”

 

Sit with it a bit. 

 

As name(s)/face(s) pop up, say, “As an act of my will, I choose to forgive _______ for ______”. Let all the toxic feelings, anger, resentment, disappointment, and hurt out. Linger there until you feel you are done. 

Then ask the Lord to minister His truth and peace. 

Doing this regularly will keep you healthy and sooo much freer and happier!

Join me next time as I unpack this freedom tool more

I trust that this has been a blessing – I’d love to hear from you!

XO,

Catherine