you gotta let it go

When you perceive that someone has wronged you, you basically have two choices:

1. hold on
2. let go

one is of Satan and one is of God.

Satan wants you to hold on to any perceived wrong.... to harbor ill will toward anybody whom you believe to have perpetrated anything upon you. He wants you to keep score and seek revenge and withdraw your love. He is the creator of festering.

God wants you to let it go. I used to think God wanted us to seek resolution... I used to believe that God desires for us to 'fix it' or to 'work it out'.... but frankly, I have come to the conclusion that the 'fixing it' and 'working it out'... the resolving... is more our desire than His.

you wanna fix it? you wanna pull off the scab and go deep? have at it! be my guest! but for most of my life, I have found that diving deep and learning exactly why someone did something takes an incredible amount of energy... and I usually end up being more tired than anything else! (and no, not the 'satisfied' kind of tired either) So, for me (I admit it may be lazy or selfish or both) I just choose to mark it up to humans being humans.... and move on... I know, not very profound!!

yeah, I am convinced that, more than anything, God wants us to just let it go.

how do we do that? a few suggestions:

• clear the air often - my momma told me when Kelly and I were newlyweds: "don't go to sleep at night until you have forgiven and forgotten". I'm sure it wasn't original with her, but it is really good advice.

and I guess these next two grow out of 'clearing the air'

• forget it... whatever it is, if it's possible, just forget it! period.
• always be forgiving... this one is the most important - and Christlike - of any of these suggestions.

Look, I know it may be that you feel compelled to confront and fix and all that... I get it... and there are probably times and circumstances which would dictate that you need to confront and seek resolution...

but I would encourage us all to assess our motivation for doing that.... when I think back to when I felt strongly about confronting and fixing, I gotta admit my motivation was selfish! I mainly wanted to plead my case or explain or get an explanation... and it didn't turn out nearly as well as when I simply forgave and forgot.

So it would seem that the 'forgetting it' may be the very best advice... but you gotta be selfless. and you gotta truly forget... you can't play at it and say 'I have forgotten that', then keep a little bit in your back pocket to pull out when you need it.... you gotta forget!

you gotta let it go!

Blessings!