Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Forgiveness: A Secret to Success

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." – Mark 11:22-25

This is interesting…

When I was growing up I used to hear part of this scripture A LOT. Here is what I always heard:

"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

Awww… Isn’t that magical…

But I also remembered my dad always saying that forgiveness was really important to getting your prayers answered.

Huh? Why?

Then a couple of years ago I read this again and saw this part of the scripture:

"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Hmmm…Why does this come directly after the faith message?

It used to be really hard for me to forgive. I placed great importance on the relationships that I had in my life. The words and actions of my family and friends meant a lot to me.

Perhaps too much…

When someone that I loved and trusted did something that hurt me I was profoundly wounded. It took me growing up and living life as an adult to fully realize that no one is perfect. And since we are all imperfect, being close to others means that at some point they will hurt you. Whether they mean to or not.

As I started looking back and taking inventory of things I not only realized that the people that hurt me really didn’t intend to, but also that I had hurt others in ways that I had not meant to.

It was humbling to say the least.
For years I held on to stuff that in hindsight were really very small. As a result I had strained relationship with people that I really loved. The baggage became really heavy.

Then something amazing happened. One by one I started reconciling with these people. Some were friends, others were family. I started by asking forgiveness for my part of the problem in our relationship. And miraculously they all responded in kind. They apologized too.

I felt 20 pounds lighter.

Then something else amazing happened. Things started changing in my life. I gained clarity and focus. My purpose and desires in life became clearer by the day.

What’s the moral of the story?

Well it seems that forgiveness and faith go hand in hand. The more baggage we have strapped to our backs, the harder it is to take steps forward along the path of our purpose and dreams.

We need to be free to act in the present and plan for the future. This becomes very difficult if our hearts and mind remained focused on the past.

So if you are wondering why things have become stagnant on the path toward your dreams, take a look within.

Maybe you are spending too much time focused on the past rather than living, full of love, in the present.


Today’s Reading: Deuteronomy 8-10: Mark 11: 19-33

6 comments:

  1. I love that scripture and like you, I rarely ever heard the other part about forgiveness. I think people wonder why they see constant "conflict" in their lives and are unaware that they are holding on to resentment and anger. By focusing on that resentment and anger, we are in fact, usually wishing and praying for harm towards another. But it's one of the spiritual laws that what we sew is what we shall reap. How else is god going to bless us? Ask and we shall receive. Too bad we don't focus on what we're asking.

    This is why it is best to wish for all, what we wish for ourselves. (there's a catch) If we sew the seeds of love, we reap the fruit of love in friendships, health, realtionships and wealth. If we plant seeds of anger, fear and hatred, we also reap those wilted flowers of bruised relationships, conflicting work environments, and poor health. Therefore it is most important to watch who we are becoming. And people think I'm crazy to be so nice to everyone; how else am I going to take over the world with kindness? MUAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry.

    Shak
    100.

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  2. Forgive others?! I hear ya but don't you know this is my world? Forget others.

    What if instead I just forgive myself? Forgive myself for not being strong enough to stay in a space of being hurt. Being "hurt" takes a lot of energy to maintain ya know. Letting go of hurt is the easy way out. What pride do I have in my "hurt feelings" if I so easily let go of them (sometimes without any resolution) and move on.

    What the heck you say?! Yeah, I get that. At the end of the day though, forgiving myself for letting go of my hurt allows me to forgive whatever thing or person that caused me that hurt. Cause the only extra baggage I want to carry around, is one for my shoes. They're worth every ounce they weigh and more! :-)

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  3. Such a great post. That theme, and that particular part of Mark 11 have come up on a daily basis for me over the past week. Forgiveness is a barrier in every way. It's that "baggage" on our back weighing us down, it's a wall between us and God, impeding our relationship with him, and blocking our blessings. If we just stop holding on to it, we can receive whatever God has been waiting to put in our grasp.

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  4. @Alegria huh??? hahahaa nope! It don't work that way. Just cause you put the bags where you can't see them doesn't mean that they have disappeared...

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  5. @Kof Thank you sir! And great points.

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