Forgiveness is Letting Go

“Forgiveness is letting go of the belief that the past will ever turn out any differently.” We know that we are not living out forgiveness if we can’t allow ourselves to move beyond the past, expressed in the use of the word “should.” You know how that sounds—“He should not have treated me that way,” “They should have given it to me,” or “I shouldn’t have had to do all that.”

If you’re living a rear view mirror kind of existence please know that you can change. There are a lot of good opportunities on the road of life still ahead of you. But you will miss them if you can’t let go of the past and look forward. How can you change your focus? It all begins with a choice. Note the words of Joseph who was freed from the past to live for God in the present and future as he tells his brothers who sold him into slavery—“Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves that you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life [even your life]” (Genesis 45:5).  Here are four easy steps you can take to let go of past wrongs:

1. Trust God that He had a purpose in the events of the past.
2. Give yourself permission to let go of what will never be.
3. Quickly remind yourself of that permission/decision every time you remember the wrongs of the past.
4. Prayerfully move on to what God has empowered you to accomplish.

Father, bless we your children to turn our minds from the challenges of the past so that we might clearly see the blessings that are yet in store for us.