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We should never allow ourselves to live in the past because when we are
constantly looking back, we will never be able to see what is ahead of
us. When we continually focus on the setbacks, the failures and the
people who have hurt us, we no longer live for today because we become
trapped in our yesterdays. What we must do is learn the lessons from the
past so that we can become better because of them, and use what we've
learned to lead our life to even greater heights. We should never give
the people who have hurt us more power and that's exactly what we do when
we hold on to the hurt and pain that they have caused. We must let it go
for our own benefit.
We don't have to become bitter, we don't have to hold onto grudges and we
don't have to keep hate in our heart. We can forgive those who have hurt
us and move forward with our lives learning the lessons and apply them
towards our future. No matter what we have faced in life, we can use it
to our benefit. We can choose to see the good that came with that
difficult situation, we can see the lessons they taught us and we can make
a conscious decision to apply what we've learned for our betterment today
and in our future to come.
I encourage you to look past your past. Look forward with a renewed
determination. Forget what happened to you before. Forget who hurt you,
used you or betrayed you. Don't give them any more power over your life.
Take back control and know that you are a better person because of the
lessons you've learned. Use those lessons and apply them to your daily
life. You will find yourself grateful that you have come out of that
situation much better, wiser and stronger than you were before.
I hope this message inspires and challenges your heart to look forward
with a renewed determination knowing that letting go of the past serves
only to your benefit.
LET GO OF YOUR GRUDGES
As we approach the New Year it's a good time to clean out the clutter in
our lives. That means disposing of useless papers and unused stuff but also
throwing away old grudges.
The prevalence and durability of grudges proves Maya Angelou's observation
that people don't always remember what you said or did, but they do
remember how you made them feel.
Grudges are nothing more than toxic memories of how someone made us feel.
But Confucius taught that “To be wronged is nothing unless we continue to
remember it.” So why do so many of us choose to consciously preserve and
revisit toxic feelings that detract from our happiness?
Perhaps we fool ourselves into thinking we can inflict some sort of pain
on the person who wronged us. In fact, holding on to a grudge is like
holding on to a hot stone. It doesn't hurt the stone or the person who
gave it to us; it only hurts the one holding it. Carrying a grudge is like
being stung to death by one bee.
It doesn't matter how justified the bitter feelings are or how right we
are. Holding on to a grievance turns pain into suffering. In a peculiar
way it empowers the wrongdoer to hurt us again and again.
So start out this New Year by giving yourself a great gift. Muster the
good sense and strength to root out and release deep-seated and long-held
resentments.
If you can, forgive and forget. But all that's really necessary is a firm
decision to let go of your grudges so you can move forward and free
yourself of the chains of resentment.
By Michael Josephson
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Philippians 3:13-14 “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but
this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching
forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Matthew 5:43-45 Jesus declares “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye
may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his
sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and
on the unjust.”
Psalm 121:1-8 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh
my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will
not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD
is thy keeper: the LORD is Thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall
not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee
from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy
going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”
Psalm 34:17-19 “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth
them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a
broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the
afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today's Selected Poem: DOES YESTERDAY BELONG TO TODAY
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/inpoem122.htm
Today's Selected Testimony: IT DID HAPPEN TO US
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony59.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
God’s Work Ministry |
