YOUR BEST LIFE BEGINS EACH MORNING

 

Ephesians 4:32

Forgive to be Free

If you want to live your best life now, you must be quick to forgive. You need to forgive so you can be free, out of bondage, and happy. When we forgive, we’re doing it for our own good. When we hold on to unforgiveness and live with grudges in our hearts, all we’re doing is building walls of separation. We think we’re protecting ourselves, but we’re not. We become isolated, alone, warped, and imprisoned by our own bitterness. Those walls don’t merely keep people out; those walls keep us penned in.

 

You must forgive the people who hurt you so you can get out of prison. Forgiveness is a choice, but it is not an option.

 

 

Jonah 4:4

Deal with the Inside

What does the toxic waste of unforgiveness look like in our lives? For some people, it seeps out as anger. In other people, it smells like depression. For others, it reeks of low self-esteem. It can show up in many different ways, sometimes doing damage before we even realize it has reappeared. The simple truth is that if we have bitterness on the inside, it’s going to end up contaminating everything that comes out of us. It will contaminate our personalities and our attitudes, as well as how we treat other people.

 

If you are harboring anger, ask yourself why. If you’re always negative about yourself, about others, about life in general, ask yourself why this is. You must deal with the inside first, then you can really be happy. Then you can experience true, untainted, unalloyed victory in your life.

 

 

 

Proverbs 28:13

Forgive for Your Own Sake

A few decades ago, several American companies authorized by the U.S. government attempted to bury toxic waste products underground. They filled large metal drums, sealed them tightly, and buried them deep down below the topsoil. Within a short time, however, containers began to leak and the toxic waste seeped to the surface, causing terrible problems – killing vegetation, ruining water supplies, and forcing people to move. What went wrong? They tried to bury something that was so powerful that it was too toxic for the containers to hold. Had they disposed of them properly in the first place, they wouldn’t have had this terrible problem.

 

It’s the same with us when it comes to unforgiveness. We must forgive or else its toxic poison will continue to contaminate our life.

 

 

Proverbs 4:23

Guard Your Heart

Rather than letting go of the hurt and pain we’ve experienced, too many of us attempt to bury it deep down inside our hearts. We attempt to cram unforgiveness, resentment, anger, and other destructive responses into our “leakproof” containers, but one day the things you have tamped into your subconscious or buried deeply in the recesses of your heart will rise to the surface. We can’t live with poison inside us and not expect it to eventually do us harm.

 

Forgiveness is the key to being free from toxic bitterness. Forgive the people who hurt you. Forgive the boss who did you wrong. Forgive the friend who betrayed you. Forgive the parent who mistreated you when you were younger. Don’t let the root of bitterness grow deeper and continue to contaminate your life.