It’s Not About Them. It’s About You.

Task 1: The Forgiveness List

Why forgiveness? Why THAT as a focus theme this year?

Because releasing the power of forgiveness can transform your life. And most people don’t realize how much they don’t understand about what it means to forgive.

Because, you see, most people don’t understand that forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. When we understand that we have NO control over another human being and that we only can control our own decisions, actions, and choices, we begin to understand that forgiveness is ultimately about releasing the negative grip we allow others to have over us.

Forgiving is about letting go. It’s about letting go of the negative tentacles that wrap around your being and breed resentment and bitterness. It’s about choosing to reframe your thinking, about giving yourself grace, about focusing on the positive.

To be successful at forgiving you have to be specific and intentional in the practice of it. So we’ll begin with an assignment.

Make your Forgiveness List. This list will become more specific and defined throughout this journey, but for now, divide the list like this:

Things or People that Make Me Angry        

Events/Things that (have) Hurt Me          

Choices I’ve Made that Upset Me or that I Regret

Take your time with this list. Pray about it. Ask God to show you where you hold resentment and bitterness. Go back as far as you can. When you find yourself getting mad about something, stop and identify the feeling and drill down to figure out what (or who) makes you upset. Write it down.

That’s all you have to do for now. Name it. Claim it.

You’ve taken the first step on the journey.