Let It Go!
2016 is at the door, but we can't go into this new year and season, carrying the weight of the past. We've got to let go of old mindsets and old grudges. We've got to let go of old hurts and old heartaches. We've got to let go of everything that keeps us burdened down and walking in unforgiveness. We've got to release people from past mistakes and forgive them, no matter how hurtful or painful it may have been.
In order to enjoy the bountiful blessings of this new season of 2016, we've got to release ourselves and others from the past. Jesus said, "No man puts new wine into old winsekins because the old wineskins will break and the wine will be spilled." (Mark 2:22) How can we then expect to experience the joy of the new year, carrying the old hurts, pains, and unforgiveness from the old year? It just won't work.
Some of you are probably saying, "It's too hard. You don't know what they did to me?" You're right on one point, I don't know what they did to you, but I can tell you what they did to me; however, I refuse to dig it up again. I've buried it and I won't go back and get it. It's covered under the Blood, just like my sins and your are. "Jesus taught us to pray, "Forgive us this day, as we forgive those who trespass against us." (Matt. 6:12) He also went on to teach us in Mark 11:26, "If you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses."
Last, but certainly not least, the bible teaches us "how can we say we love God, if we don't love one another? (I John 4:20) If someone has offended you, hurt you or mistreated, as a Christian, you and I must forgive them and love them. There's no getting around it. So to go into this new year the right way, we have to let it go! Just do it by simply asking the Holy Spirit to help you say to each person who has ever offended you, these three things. "I forgive you. I release you, and I love you."
