Do it anyway – Chapter 19

Stop making excuses”

Scripture:

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.

Mark 11:25 NIV

Lesson:

This scripture shows the urgency of forgiving those who harm us. It does not say, “Do it when you have the time or when the mood hits you.” The Word says, “Stop what you are doing and go forgive.” It also states if you are holding anything against your coparent, you need to release it. It doesn’t say forgiveness applies only to the big issues. Any negative feelings or hostilities need to be released and forgiven. 

Notice what it doesn’t say: it does not say that you must go and forgive face-to-face. The process of forgiveness is in your heart and in your mind. Unless you want forgiveness that leads to reconciliation, you do not need to tell your coparent that you have forgiven them. Your decision to forgive is a personal choice you make with yourself and with your God despite what your coparent does. 

No matter how badly you have been hurt, it helps to know that some murderers have been forgiven by their victim’s family. This seems unbelievable until you realize that forgiveness is a choice that can set you free. According to June Hunt (expert and author), “Forgiveness is not a natural response but a supernatural one.”5 The reward of this supernatural response includes obeying and pleasing God, the Creator of the universe. Forgiveness opens the door to God’s forgiveness, prevents a root of bitterness in your heart, and improves your spiritual health. Most importantly, forgiveness will close the door on evil and bring you into the light, get you in sync with the Holy Spirit, and lead you to more blessings. 

Keith M. Kent wrote a small book entitled Jesus Did It Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments for Christians. Kent believes Jesus is calling us to a paradoxical life. The most obvious paradox in Jesus’s life was His willingness to forgive those who were crucifying Him while hanging on the cross. 

We are called to love our enemy even when they are unreasonable and selfish. If your coparent takes from you, be generous anyway. If you are kind to your coparent and they take advantage of you, do it anyway. If your kindness is met with hostility, do it anyway. If being honest makes you vulnerable to more attacks, do it anyway. If your coparent is cruel and hateful, love them anyway. If your compassion is met with mocking, do it anyway. Your coparent can harm you and not acknowledge or apologize, but you can forgive them anyway. You can disagree with someone and love them anyway. In order to accomplish the paradoxical commandments of Jesus and remain more in the spiritual world than this world takes obedience, maturity, and the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Sometimes what God asks of us goes against all logic and our human nature. It only makes sense to hurt someone who has hurt you. Yet God wants us to return hate with love, and cruelty with kindness. Despite what happens, love regardless. ***** 

5 June Hunt, How to Forgive…When You Don’t Feel Like It (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2015). 

Reflection:

Reflect upon the concept of obeying God’s commandments in spite of what has happened or what you may be feeling. 

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What is it you have not released and still hold against your coparent? 

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Prayer:

Merciful Father, Grant me the strength to obey Your commandments even when it may seem backward to me. Help me embrace the paradox of obeying Your commandments to love and forgive with no more excuses. This will require divine intervention. Prepare my heart so that I can be committed to achieving love and forgiveness as You have commanded. Through Your holy spirit, Amen