2 minute read.
Daily Reading: Exodus 5:22-7:25 ESV, Matthew 18:21-19:12 ESV, Psalm 23:1-6 ESV, Proverbs 5:22-23 ESV
Daily Verse: “So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:35 ESV)
APHIEMI (863): “To send away, to bid going away or depart. To let go, let alone, let be, to disregard. To give up a debt, keep no longer, remit. To leave, go away from one in order to go to another place,” [i]
Keep no longer.
Forgiveness frees you from negative thinking. When we focus on an offense, we bind ourselves up inside. Wanting someone to suffer for the hurt caused, whether intentional or unintentional, keeps you in bondage, not the offender.
“Schadenfreude” means pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune.[ii] When we hold onto unforgiveness, we want someone else to suffer. As my husband says, “You know you’ve truly forgiven someone when you wish them well.”
However, if we spend our time wanting bad things to happen to other people, we miss out on today. Instead of enjoying the blessings in our own lives, we waste time. You do have the ability to refocus your thoughts, freeing yourself from the bondage of unforgiveness, living in the freedom of God’s grace and mercy.
Take no offense.
In a world offended by everything, choose a different path. When someone offends you, make the conscious decision to let it go. A friend sent me a picture of a simple sign, black background with white letters that carried a profound message:
“When you finally learn that a person’s behavior has more to do with their internal struggle than it ever did with you, you learn grace.” Vintage Vivid
Hurting people hurt others, four words that will help you not take offense. When someone’s actions impact you negatively, remember, they’re operating out of their pain. Whatever flawed thinking causes them to commit harmful acts, it’s about them, not you. Choose grace, keep the offense no longer, let it go.
Letting Go
Author unknown
To “let go” does not mean to stop caring,
it means I can’t do it for someone else.
To “let go” is not to cut myself off,
it’s the realization I can’t control another.
To “let go” is not to enable,
but to allow learning from natural consequences.
To “let go” is to admit powerlessness,
which means the outcome is not in my hands.
To “let go” is not to try to change or blame another,
it’s to make the most of myself.
To “let go” is not to care for,
but to care about.
To “let go” is not to fix,
but to be supportive.
To “let go” is not to judge,
but to allow another to be a human being.
To “let go” is not to be in the middle arranging the outcomes,
but to allow others to affect their own destinies.
To “let go” is not to be protective,
it’s to permit another to face reality.
To “let go” is not to deny,
but to accept.
To “let go” it not to nag, scold or argue,
but instead to search out my own shortcomings, and correct them.
To “let go” is not to adjust everything to my desires
but to take each day as it comes,
and cherish myself in it.
To “let go” is not to criticize and regulate anybody
but to try to become what I dream I can be.
To “let go” is not to regret the past,
but to grow and live for the future.
To “let go” is to fear less,
and love more.
[i] Strong, J., & Strong, J. (2010). The New Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance of the Bible. (p 48) Thomas Nelson
[ii] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schadenfreude
