by Elizabeth Haarberg

Letting Go of the Pain

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Then Peter came to Him and asked, “Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I forgive him and let it go? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered him, “I say to you, not up to seven times, but seventy times seven.”
Matthew 18:21-22

I assume most people, Christians or not, have heard how they should forgive. But do we know why? What does the Bible say about how forgiveness benefits us?

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Matthew 6:14-15

“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”
Micah 7:18-19

The good news is we can’t hide from God; He sees everything. Our inability to forgive is glaring for Him to see, it’s like a stop sign to God. We are hanging onto a wound that He can’t heal until we release it to Him. It feels good in the moment to self-protect, but it’s a satanic lie about our hurts, that our pain justifies us to cling to the garbage.

We release our pain to God so He can forgive us. It’s a cycle: we forgive and receive His mercy. It frees us to move past the roadblock and not be paralyzed by fear or pain.

This is one of the most difficult things I’ve had to practice in my own walk. My nature is to be stubborn and justify my lack of action, but I’ve found that I feel better when I finally give in to His plan for forgiveness.

The verses in the beginning of Matthew 18 describe how we ought to come to God like a child. Children don’t hold grudges; they forget quickly. They desire reconciliation more than hanging onto their pain.

I challenge all of us to become more like children. Innocent, trusting, believing the best in everyone, not worried who is going to cause pain in our lives next.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado