Time to Forgive Everyone Everything

I bought a metal plaque this week-end at a little Christian bookstore inside Gospel Light Church where we held our CMA Seasons of Refreshing. It read simply, “Forgive Everyone Everything”. It caught my eye and it caught my heart.


I’ve heard it’s possible, but I’ve never met anyone personally who doesn’t love their own children. I admit we parents have no idea just how in love we are going to be while carrying the baby, but at the moment of birth we are forever undone over this bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.



It’s not always a honeymoon. Kids are imperfect. Parents are imperfect. They step on our toes when they’re little and then they step on our hearts when they’re older. Many times we punish inconsequential things and overlook the big stuff. We try to let them know they’re loved no matter what, but we also try to get them to do things right.



Still and all, they are our heart walking around outside our bodies. No matter what age they are, they are our babies. Our son walked in this afternoon for a quick hello and my heart melted all over again, just like it did the first time I laid eyes on him. Our middle daughter texted an I love you tonight and my heart skipped a beat. I texted I love you to our oldest daughter and got the same in return. Gave me great peace.



Our family is like most families. We get bent out of shape, we don’t always see eye to eye, but in the end, when it’s all said and done, we love one another.



Last night I quoted the plaque. I just don’t have the words to express our complete and inescapable sorrow over such dear, dear friends losing their 35 year old daughter in a car accident. We hold our children’s hands so tightly, even the grown ones. We get accused of clinging and more, but it’s that fragility of life that keeps us parents catching our breath over and over again.



I know you will understand won’t you that today is a good day to forgive everyone everything. I know this because God forgave me and I am the most imperfect person ever known. I didn’t deserve grace, I didn’t merit it or pass any tests for it. But God in His infinite, perfect love, reached down and gave it to me. So I just pass it on to others, especially my children.



Oh beloved, let God love you! Let God forgive you! And then, let God lead you to forgive everyone everything. It really doesn’t matter does it in the long run what it was because God has buried all our sins in the deepest sea – as far as the east is from the west – never to be counted against us again. God knows the struggles you have, He knows the hurts you carry and He knows the burdens that seem oh so heavy. But He’s made a way to help you when you’re low, relieve you of your load and bless you with good days and opportunities to love and forgive. He is trustworthy even when all looks hopeless. He really does love you, He really does hear your prayers, He really does want to walk with you and guide you all the days of your life and that’s all that really matters.



I John 4:10 This is real love--not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.



Mark 11:25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.



Psalm 18:6 But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from His sanctuary; my cry to Him reached His ears.

Feeling Weighed Down? Give Your Cares to Him!

My children always loved collecting rocks from the area we vacationed. Every once in a while I’ll find a small pebble or a couple of rocks in a box. There’s a big collection that our son saved in a box out in the shop and it is heavy.  I guess you could call them memory stones.  I was cleaning out my car last week and found another rock – it looks like the grandkids now want to collect them. 

We gather memory rocks don’t we? Not all the stones are from pleasant places.  Some are picked up along with hurts, discouragement or sorrow.  Some are thrown at us.  We catch each one and keep them so that we don’t forget who hurt us.  The  unkind word, the impatient response, the indifferent or ignoring disregard from those we trusted.  We go home and empty our pockets of the stones and think we’re done with it.  We place them away in the closet of our heart. But let another hurtful word or an unkind gesture come our way and out comes our collection. We add to and look it all over and it becomes oh so heavy.

We cannot avoid hurts. We cannot control how others treat us, how we might be ignored or undervalued or overlooked.  We may want the best in a relationship and yet the other party wants nothing to do with us. People walk away, lie about your life and wipe their hands of us. If we gather each hurtful or hard memory up in a collection, pretty soon we’re harboring a heavy load.  We could become so enthralled with our collection that’s all we concentrate on.

But if we give those stones of remembrance to the Lord and ask Him to help us, He will lessen the hurt and take our burden from us. We were never meant to carry this load. It’s heavy and weighs us down. If unchecked, it will actually sideline us and keep us from moving forward.  God in His mercy will turn that pile of hurts, disappointments, unforgiveness, or rejection into an altar of love. If we turn those stones over in our hearts and give them to Him, the burden will be lifted as we forgive and move on. Our hearts feel better, our load is lighter and we’re filled with His mercy to go higher with Him.

Oh beloved, God loves you! He has a wonderful plan for you life! He says to discard the rocks and follow Him! His plan is oh so sweet and His desire is oh so outrageous for you! He will carry you higher than you’ve ever been and the view from the heights of His mercy and love is beautiful! Run to Him this morning and show Him your burdens, share the truth about each memory stone and let Him heal your hurts!  He loves you so much that He will discard them for you and walk with you all the days of your life! Hurts may still come, but you won’t have to load yourself down for God walks before you and His angels surround you. What an amazing Savior!

Psalm 55:22 Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Matthew 11:28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

I Peter 5:7 Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.

Drop the Hurts and Pick up the Blessings!

I really enjoy a good cup of coffee.  As we were getting ready to head to our car the other morning, I grabbed one more for the road. It was cold and raining and I was holding onto Danny with one hand and my coffee with the other.  As I took off running to the car, the hot coffee began to splash! I decided the cup of coffee wasn’t worth burning my hand, so I dropped it!  Danny looked at me as I explained my predicament.  I laughed and so did he as we got into the car.

We are told by the Lord that He has given us freely all things to enjoy. But there are times when what we want to enjoy is going to burn us.  We can hold onto it and have the repercussions or we can let it go and get immediate relief. We cannot hope to be all that God has for us if we hold on to bitterness, anger, malice, wrath, or Unforgiveness.  Once we let those things go, we find such sweet relief. But we cannot merely drop them as I did the cup of coffee – we must hand them off to the Lord, where we find complete relief! He will give us something else to hold onto in their place.  Love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness and more.

Oh beloved, it’s a new year! Don’t you think it’s time to drop those things that you can do nothing about? Those things that are burning your heart and giving you more bitterness and sorrow? God knows what you’ve been through. God knows who has hurt you, antagonized you and betrayed you. But He has a plan, through it all! And, if you will hand off your troubles and anguish to Him He’ll make it all good in His time! He loves you, beloved, and because of His great love, He will watch over you and keep you safe all the days of your life. 

Ephesians 4:31-32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. ³² Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Matthew 6:12  and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.

Matthew 11:28
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

1 Peter 3:9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and He will bless you for it.