Sermon Notes: Letting Go…

By Pastor Tito Valdespino New Life Christian Center

Have you ever wanted something so bad, that you’d be willing to do anything to get it? Then when you see what it’s going to take to get, you’re like nope… that’s just too much of a cost or sacrifice. And we roadblock ourselves from moving forward because now it seems impossible and out of reach. 

Well, I have. At the beginning of my college experience, right out of HS, I thought I wanted to be a Geologist. I took a Geology course and quickly fell in love with rocks. The way they were formed and shaped based on the type of magma surfacing from the Earth’s core and the rate in which it cooled amazed me. I just knew I wanted to be a Geologist!

So, I went to talk to my Counselor about my course pathway to achieve a BS in Geology so I can begin my career studying rocks! But then, my bubble burst when I realized all the work and challenging courses I would have to endure to achieve my dream of being a Geologist. Being the young teen I was, I was discouraged and turned away from my dream because I felt it was just too much work. 

Sometimes it’s like that with forgiveness. It’s really nice when we receive it from others, but when it comes to forgiving others that have wronged us… naturally, our attitude shifts. We see the work we might have to put into reaching true forgiveness and some of us think, “That’s too hard… I just can’t do that!” And then resentment sets in and bitterness begins to eat at us. Sometimes affecting our physical and mental health. 

Matthew 6:11-12 (NLT)

“Give us today the food we need and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”

What Jesus is reminding us in this part of The Lord’s Prayer, is that our greatest need from our Saviour is more than our daily bread… it’s our need for His forgiveness. And when we approach him with a repentant heart, He forgives us instantly, repeatedly, and completely. But, it’s the part after the comma, that I want to bring focus to.

Matthew 6:12 (NLT) 

“, as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.”

This part of the prayer was strategically placed here by Jesus so that we see the direct connection between the forgiveness we receive from God and the forgiveness we’re supposed to give to others. As a follower of Jesus, we live in this 2-dimensional life of relational connection. The vertical, which is our relationship with God. And the horizontal… which is our relationship with others.

This means that the freedom you experience from receiving forgiveness from God, is the same freedom you can experience as you forgive others. That’s why Jesus is teaching us to pray in a way where we remember our own real-life situations, and circumstances and relationships where we struggled and were forgiven. And he wants us to connect those real-life situations where we experienced forgiveness, to the forgiveness we should express to others. 

The harsh reality of unforgiveness is that it causes us to hold resentment, anger, hate, bitterness and frustration towards others.  And it causes us to get out of alignment with our Father because we get so focused on the hurt and it consumes us. You’ve probably heard it said like this… “Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”  You think you’re doing something against them, but you’re really doing it against God and yourself. 

Friends hear this… forgiving others is much more about your freedom and peace than it is about the other person. 

Ephesians 4:31-32 (NLT) 

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tender hearted, forgiving one another, just as a God through Christ has forgiven you.

When we truly experience God’s peace through prayer, we align with Him and experience His power and freedom to let go and move forward past our hurts or hang ups in life. To let go of resentment, anger, hate, bitterness and frustration towards others and instead align with Him and express the same grace and forgiveness that we experience from God ourselves. My hope and prayer this Christmas season is that you can begin to experience God’s peace today right in the middle of your circumstance.