Moving forward is never easy. It doesn’t mean that we forget what others did or didn’t do to us. However, we need to forgive others. Not forgiving others is a toxin to your heart, mind, and soul.

Think about this last year. Who hurt you really bad? Was it someone’s words or actions? Here’s the deal, folks. The old saying: sticks and stones may break my bones but words may never hurt me. <—–Garbage saying!

The actions AND words of others will hurt. Sometimes people hurt us on purpose and sometimes they don’t even realize they shoot arrows at us.

To forgive, first go to God. Who do you need to forgive? What person or situation is bothering you? Give it to God and keeping praying to truly release it to Him. It will take more than one time of releasing them in prayer.

Ask yourself if you need to talk to this person about forgiving them. Sometimes this must occur for closure and other times it will just be traumatic for you. Talk to God and someone you trust and then decide.

Forgiveness frees you from a trapped heart and mind. It allows you to live in the now and hope for the future. Without hope, it will be difficult to see what God is doing in your life.

2023 is only 3 days from now! In the last blog post, we talked about reviewing 2022 and taking notes. There is something revealing and therapeutic (and hopefully healing) about reviewing the last year. Every year is different. Maybe your year had alot of good surprises or perhaps you had a year that was traumatic and heartbreaking. One thing that we need to do with the last year is forgive ourselves.

When I talk about forgiving ourselves, I am not advocating for some self-help tactics. Quite the opposite, forgiving ourselves means that we take a step towards Jesus. As we take this step, we forgive ourselves for where we screwed up this year. Our year might have been full of bad decisions we made or a year full of indecisiveness. Both active and inactive decisions can lead us closer or further away from Jesus and others. We give the last year to Jesus and seek forgiveness.

A lot of feelings may be brewing inside of you from this past year: joy, disappointment, heartache, failure, grief, suffering, confusion, peace, etc. Regardless of what you are feeling (good or bad), give it to Jesus. In this moment, do not look for the lesson learned. It is too early for that. You need to heal, seek restoration, and gain clarity for the next year.

Here is how this works……

1. We admit our flaws. We don’t air this out on social media or text a friend. We take this to God.
2. We repent. Repentance means “to turn away from”. We seek a better way in Jesus and this is NOT performance-based or behavior modification. You can know the rules of Christianity, have nice manners, never miss church, and still not KNOW JESUS.
3. We forgive others. (This is my next blog post!)
4. We plan and make changes. This is where you get help. Seek a trusted friend, mentor, or professional whom can help you learn and process from the last year. Process and then plan for the next year. If you hate your job, why is that? If you keep dating people who treat you like crap, then up your standards!

Give yourself some grace. Jesus has already extended it to you. Will you accept it?