piLgrim - Let go of resentment and pain
It is said that resentment and unforgiveness are like drinking poison and hoping the person who hurt us will die.Many of us carry pain from the past. We've been betrayed, disappointed, victimised, treated unfairly and hurt undeservedly. This pain has the potential to hold us back or alternatively it can launch us into a better future. Unfortunately it seems that people succumb to pain more easily than they overcome it.
Forgiveness is an intrinsic part of the gospel. In the Lord's Prayer we are reminded that our sense of forgiven-ness is related to the forgiveness we offer others. Or put better, if we aren't able to forgive, it probably means that we don't understand how much we have been forgiven!
Unfortunately many of people battle to remember without pain - which is what forgiveness actually is. People say "forgive and forget" but no-one can give themselves amnesia! Forgiveness is the choice to let go of pain every time we remember a hurt until we can remember and it doesn't hurt.
So what to we do on piLgrim Wednesdays?
We courageously look at our heart-and-soul health and ask ourselves: "How toxic (negative, cynical, resentful, bitter, suspicious, angry and critical) am I at the moment?" (Score yourself from 1(non-toxic) to 10(very toxic).)
If you find yourself with a toxic score, take some time to give your pain to Jesus. He will take your pain and give you the yoke of forgiveness and forgiven-ness. (We need forgiven-ness because sometimes the things people do to us make us feel dirty even though we are innocent victims.)
Jesus' cross is the place where all the pain of broken humanity was drawn together and paid for. When we come to Him, we know that we are not alone in our pain. He can carry what we cannot.
Let this Wednesday be a day that you take seriously the invitation He gives:
| "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew11:28-30) |
