LET IT GO!

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. Philippians 3:13

 

Apostle Paul had all kinds of reasons to be offended and dwell in the past; people lied against him, he was misunderstood, and not accepted by some of the religious leaders in his days. He knew how to let things go, not taking offence and not dwelling on what happened yesterday. He put all His energies into reaching what is ahead.

 

You have to develop patience and a mindset of not holding onto offences. We must come to that place in life where we don’t hold on to anything offensive; Someone may have said something rude to you, so let it go. Someone may have hurt your feelings, you didn’t like it, but let it go. They left you out, it wasn’t fair, but let it go”. Holding on to that offence, will not only weigh you down but also keep you from moving forward. 

 

Not letting go of offences has stopped so many people! They are not seeing new levels, not tapping into their potential because they are living in yesterday, dwelling on what someone said and how they were mistreated. Yes, they did you wrong, you can’t stop all that from happening but how you handle the offence is what is important. Forgiveness should be a continual thing, not once and for all. We are to continually release people from our hearts and continually let things go. ( Luke 6:37)

 

We need to see offences as something toxin and poisonous to us when we keep them in our hearts. See it as dealing with something very powerful. An offence is like a seed, if you keep dwelling on it, letting it upset you, it’s going to take root and grow. It will begin to contaminate your life and cause you to live a bitter and unforgiven life. Your emotional healing may have to take a long process.

 

Don’t put yourself in a position of always dwelling on the wrongs of the past. Asking yourself, why they left you out. Why did that person walk away? Why was that person disrespectful to me in that manner? You will go on and on! Things like these, you can’t control any of that. 

 

What you can control is not allowing the offence to dwell in you. If you develop this mindset of letting offences go or a mindset of continually forgiving those who offend you, then offence won’t affect you negatively.

 

 

JESUS’ WORDS CONCERNING OFFENCES!

 

In the scripture, Jesus called His disciples, talking to them and getting them prepared to go out and do great things. He wasn’t going to be with them much longer, this was an important time. He could have talked to them about having more faith, believing and doing great exploits but he said “As you go out, there is this one more important thing you need to know. “It is impossible that no offences should come…” Luke 17:1.  

 

As you go through life there will be rude people, disrespectful co-workers, and family members that get on your nerves. It’s impossible for you not to be offended. He gave them this challenging news that was inevitable and also gave them the solution.

 

He said in verses 3 and 4  “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

 

Someone told me, I can understand when someone offends me once a day, maybe twice a day, perhaps three times a day, but four times and you are still getting on my nerves? Five times is too much! When He said seven times, He is talking about continual forgiveness. He is saying, don’t let that poison get in and contaminate your spirit. You have to deal with offences quickly. (Ephesians 4:26)

 

The longer you wait, the more difficult to let it go. If you dwell on it for a day and think about it for a month, it will get bigger, and become more hurtful. You will be sour, not enjoying time with your family. That could have been avoided if you would have forgiven quickly. Refuse offences from taking root in you. They may be very detrimental to your peace, joy and good time with your loved ones.

 

Let me make it more practical: it’s impossible to live with your family and they will not hurt your feelings or not get on your nerves or not disappoint you or not say things that they shouldn’t. They are not against you, they are just human, and they have flaws. Sometimes people don’t mean to, other times they do, either way, you can’t let that poison get in you and stay there.

 

If you take that offence and live sour, revengeful, you are wasting your emotional energy and have given yourself so much weight to carry each day. Do you know how much emotional energy it takes to hold a grudge, to live bitter, to think about what they did? That is the energy you should have for your dreams, the energy to love your children and enjoy time with your spouse.

 

The enemy loves to use offences as distractions, he loves to get you upset so you prove to people who you are and pay them back in their coin. Even if you accomplish all that, you are no further down the road. You have just wasted valuable time and energy fighting a battle that doesn’t matter.

 

If that battle is not between you and your destiny, you are not supposed to engage in it. Goliath stood between David and his purpose, he fought that battle. But a few days earlier David’s older brother Eliab, made fun of David in front of all of his colleagues. He belittled David and tried to make him feel small. But it says in first Samuel 17, “David turned and walked away”.

 

Had he gotten distracted, taken offence, tried to prove to his brother who he was, or set him straight, he would have missed fighting Goliath. The scripture says he ran toward Goliath, but he walked away from Eliab. The mark of a champion is knowing what battles to fight, and what battles to walk away from.  (1Samuel 17:48)

 

Are you fighting battles that don’t matter? Engaged in conflict of pity, just trying to prove to people who you are, set them straight? If you win, what have you accomplished? Are you any closer to your destiny or was it a distraction? There are very few Goliaths that we will face, but there are many Eliabs, many offences. When you learn to walk away from what doesn’t matter, you will have the strength, the favour, and the anointing to defeat the Goliaths and defeat what does matter.

They hurt your feelings, they were disrespectful, and he/she shouldn’t have yelled at you! You can’t stop that from coming, but you can stop it from staying. If you don’t address it well, it will become heavy luggage for you which may cause distraction to you.

 

I have known people who were favoured because they were talented, but they got distracted by what people were saying, bitter over who did them wrong, trying to prove to people they were not what was said. They became defensive, harsh, and critical, it was all born out of an offence that they didn’t let go of. If you hold on to offences, they will begin to change who you are. But if you will be a David, walk away from the Eliabs, walk away from the insults, the disrespect, then God can trust you with more. 

 

We have to pass these tests: when the offence comes, that’s an opportunity to show God the influence of His word on you. The easy thing is to get offended, be rude to someone, who was rude to you, and live bitter, upset, and angry. That’s the carnal way to handle it, but we are supposed to walk by the spirit, and not the flesh. You overcome offences by letting them go, not responding, not dwelling on it, not letting that poison get in.

 

When an offence comes, you are dealing with something very powerful. That seed is alive. If you let it get in you, what is ironic is that you will become who you don’t like. You can’t take offence lightly. That seed can change your nature, sour your attitude and limit your vision.

 

You have nothing to prove! God is proud of you! God is cheering you on! He is going to make up for the wrongs! Hurts come, but God heals! Unfair things happen, but God pays you back with favour; God is faithful. We all have some ashes, but God gives us beauty for the ashes. Now, do your part: keep the offences out from your heart. Develop this habit of letting go and reaching forward, living in a continual state of forgiveness.

 

I declare today that anything hindering you is being broken right now. Offences are being uprooted. Freedom is coming, greater joy, greater peace, greater favour and grace to accomplish the fullness of your destiny, in Jesus’s name.

 

God richly bless you!