Release Them
I want to turn our attention to the captives we've been holding up in our minds.
You know who I'm talking about.
Them.
The ones we still drag around with us and haven't quite shaken yet.
When you describe them, they have an automatic descriptor that follows their name.
____ - the one who abandoned me.
____ - the one who betrayed me.
____ - the mean one, the selfish one, the unstable one, the jerky one, etc.
When you think of or talk about them - it's like you're pulled right back into the pit of pain, anger, and hate and the scene of the hurt and anguish.
All this is happening inside your mind and body, but it feels real.
Over and over again, you relive it.
Somehow, you think you are hurting them when you do this and feel vindicated in your storytelling.
But who are you really hurting?
Detaining your captives keeps you bound as a victim to your villain.
Who's really the captive here?
It is time to release what binds you both to the pain.
I'm not just talking about forgiving them.
I'm talking about freedom and release from that which keeps you BOTH imprisoned.
I understand how hard this is. You feel justified in holding them captive.
I know they hurt you. I know they did terrible things.
But if you want to be free, you must set them free, too.
With God's help, you can release your captives and find freedom.
Let's start here.
God, who do YOU say they are?
____ - the one who I love.
____ - the one who I died for.
____ - the one who I would go to the ends of the earth to find.
____ - the one I created and cherish.
____ - the one who I love.
____ - the one who I love.
____ - the one who I love.
I had to keep writing that love part.
It's easy to believe God loves us. But them? He loves them?
Yep.
Allow this truth to sink in and soften your heart.
Try to see them the way God sees them.
Try to remember what it felt like to feel unforgiven and unloved.
Remember the desperation you felt at your worst when you cried out from the mucky pit for God to rescue you.
And God did.
Even the way you were and with all that you did.
____ - the one who I love.
Remember that?
You didn't deserve that. But God did it anyway.
They don't deserve it. But God does it anyway.
Can you find the strength to be free?
Can you choose to see them the way God sees then and allow Him to finish the sentence on who they are?
Are you ready to be free from the pain that binds you?
It is time.
Release them.
Release you.
And Be free.
Matthew 6:14-15
In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.
Colossians 3:12-14
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Mark 11:25
And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.