Sometimes It's Good to Let Go: Sunday Reflections
I look back on my life, and I have led a pretty good life. I have treated other people with kindness and given them the benefit of the doubt. I have made my mistakes, certainly, but I have done what I can to make things right and to seek forgiveness and be forgiving. I feel good about that.
I look back on my life, and I have led a pretty good life. I have treated other people with kindness and given them the benefit of the doubt. I have made my mistakes, certainly, but I have done what I can to make things right and to seek forgiveness and be forgiving. I feel good about that.
There’s a lot of jealousy in this world, a lot of
nit-picking and grudge-holding. Life is much too short for that. It seems like
sometimes we must want someone else to pay for our hurts; and that is just so
unnecessary, because Jesus has already done that. That’s a good thing to
remember. Because Jesus paid for our mistakes already, we should be ready and
willing, quickly and frequently, to not ask payment from anyone else, but to
forgive those who we consider to be our debtors. We should stop keeping score
and free each other.
We continually are meeting new people, making associations,
and breaking connections, because we are moving, and learning and growing. Most
of the time, the people I’ve been close to have stayed near and dear and close
to my heart and I have to theirs as well. But time and distance do move us
apart sometimes, both in life and in death. That’s okay. We know that our
friendships and our family connections are intact, and when we see each other
again, we’ll pick up right where we left off, and continue writing our story
together.
But those other relationships, what about those? I mean the
strained ones, those who are estranged from us. Sometimes, try as we might,
things seem beyond repair. Even if we have love in our hearts, their philosophy
may differ from ours. The best thing we can then do is take inventory of our
own selves. Are we honest with ourselves and before the Lord? Have we done what
is needful and necessary? Are we holding on to the good memories and keeping
those alive, instead of festering our wounds? I have found it helpful to
remember the good feelings associated with the memories of the good times had
together in the past. If it is impossible for us to have a relationship
currently, I can savor the past relationship in my memory and wait for the day when
things may again be restored.
But I don’t have to force that. It’s a hard thing to accept our ability to be whole without the acceptance and approval of some people in our lives. But with the Lord, all things are possible. He is our help, our support, and our salvation. It is only through Him that we are ever made whole. So trusting in Him, in His timing, and in His loving care becomes the new focus of what is needful and necessary. You can’t make someone think highly of you, nor should you have to. And you don’t have to prove anyone wrong in order to feel right. That kind of right is pride. Being right with the Lord is a quiet humility, and something that I am going to diligently seek after.
But I don’t have to force that. It’s a hard thing to accept our ability to be whole without the acceptance and approval of some people in our lives. But with the Lord, all things are possible. He is our help, our support, and our salvation. It is only through Him that we are ever made whole. So trusting in Him, in His timing, and in His loving care becomes the new focus of what is needful and necessary. You can’t make someone think highly of you, nor should you have to. And you don’t have to prove anyone wrong in order to feel right. That kind of right is pride. Being right with the Lord is a quiet humility, and something that I am going to diligently seek after.
These are my thoughts at the end of this Sabbath day. They
have been helpful to me. I hope that they will be useful to someone else.
Have a good week. Have a good life!
Have a good week. Have a good life!
