For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. -Matthew 6:14-15 (ESV)

We all make mistakes in our lives, and constantly have the threads of our lives intertwined with others who also make mistakes. So, we’re all a bunch of fallen, broken people. That’s the truth, and that’s perfectly okay.

But if we ever want to move onward and upward, we’ll never get there without letting go of the baggage of unforgiveness. Maybe it’s something that someone did to you years ago…or maybe last week…or even today. Maybe it’s even yourself you can’t forgive. Some of us are so good at unforgiveness that we don’t just drag around our baggage, but have it in a case with wheels! We’ve sadly adjusted and normalized unforgiveness.

But unforgiveness is such a toxic weight, poisoning our hearts and souls, hardening them against the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And it’s a boat anchor that we choose to keep us from ever climbing the road to Christlikeness…which is also the only road to salvation.

The verses above come right after Jesus instructs the apostles how to pray. If we aren’t forgiven, then we cannot enter His gates. And if we don’t forgive, He will not forgive us!

Lord, thank you for showing us the better way…the only way…your Son’s light yoke, rather than the shackles of our sinful, hardhearted unforgiveness. Please continue to show us the way, and give us the grace, strength, and love to walk your way when we don’t have it ourselves!

Today’s soundtrack

Matthew West’s “Forgiveness” speaks to the unforgiveness we may know or receive all too well…but also speaks to the amazing freedom and power that comes from forgiving others.

Did this song speak to your heart? Consider getting it on Amazon Music »

There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind. -C.S. Lewis

I have a beautiful, framed print with this quote on it (with the Milky Way, not the sunrise pictured here) from the talented Australian husband-wife team of Pocket Fuel. I look to it often through good times and bad.

Indeed, our best days are always ahead of us, no matter what’s going on right now—even if we’re in good times.

The quote above comes from C.S. Lewis discussing the end of life in “Letters to an American Lady,” reminding the lady of the glorious life to come once she passed through this one.

And there is so much glory right here and right now, if we let the Lord take over. What I’ve found is that every day walking toward God is better than any behind me. That includes the hard and seemingly impossible days, because on this day, He has made me stronger than on any past day.

Each day is an opportunity to find more of His blessings in your life, and with each discovery, you can see and appreciate more of the richness He’s woven into the universe around you. That’s a huge help and comfort when other things don’t seem to be going right for you.

And the more you can rest in all His blessings, the more you can stop looking inward and start being an outward blessing to the world around you. And God sees your obedience and faith walk, and He’s planned your steps to your best days ever.

Today’s soundtrack

Matthew West’s “Day One” reminds us that today is a new day. Today is Day One of the best of our life.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. -2 Corinthians 12:10

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. -Philippians 4:13

Don’t run from darkness. Shine into darkness. -Craig Groeschel, LifeChurch.tv

More and more each day, I get it. I get where Paul is coming from by saying something so seemingly bizarre, where he would delight in bad things that come his way.

Foundational joy is what Paul exhibited in his epistles. In contrast to the appalling conditions and situations he faced, the joy of the Lord was his strength. His underpinnings of faith and joy were so strong that his perspective was altered: He could see opportunity where others saw pain and suffering.

That’s because, in every season, month, day, hour, minute, and moment, anything God allows to challenge us is an opportunity to step aside and let Him shine. Pain and suffering is a given. It will come. How you choose to react to it is a different story.

Good times or bad times, you can choose to give Him the glory in how you walk. In good times, be sure to praise Him for the plenty He has bestowed upon you. In bad times, be sure to praise Him for loving you enough to grow you through trials.

It is when you’re bombarded with fire that you are presented with the opportunity to learn to negate it with His truth in His Word and in your identity in Christ. It is when you’re crushed by the weight of sin that you can learn to hand them prayerfully to Him so you can walk with Him again. It is when you’re completely spent and can’t take another breath—or another step—that you can let go…and let Him infuse you with His strength and raise you up.

Paul, I get it now. It’s part of what you were telling the Christians in Corinth: It’s not our walk, but His…and in all aspects and seasons of it, we have the privilege to make God known to the world, as His ambassadors.

And to the world we can say: Bring it. Even your worst is infinitesimal compared to what God can overcome through us. In the name of the Lord, we will carry His light into the deepest, darkest, stormiest night.

Today’s soundtrack

“Strong Enough” by Matthew West recognizes that we need to step aside and let God power our walk.

Sympathy is no substitute for action. -David Livingstone

What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. -James 2:14-17

Have you ever met someone who is stands before a chasm in their lives, with a gulf spanning so wide that they cannot cross it on their own? People have told them to just do it and get to the other side…but it’s not that easy. They need assistance.

Doing something takes the focus off you

Our walk is all about glorifying the Lord. And while there is indeed a lot of pain going on in the world, including in our own lives, we can actively be His hands and feet to glorify Him in our service to others. It’s in those things we do for others that they can see God’s blessings.

Much of the writing and media made for Christians, including this agency, consist of comforting messages, and that’s fine. But we can also find how amazingly strong He can make us when we praise Him and redirect our focus onto helping His other children. It can also give us perspective on just how blessed we are, and strengthen us to overcome our own pains.

Prayer is action, too

Don’t mistake prayer for inaction. Prayer is channeling God’s power to where it’s needed. Sometimes, God has already tasked you to do other things for Him.

As an agent once told me, I may be the one lifeline God has thrown to save another. If He has called you to bridge a chasm of hurt and pain, be that bridge. He will strengthen you to handle the load.

Today’s soundtrack

The song “Do Something” by Matthew West hit a nerve with me. In it, he shakes his fist at the sky and asks God why He doesn’t do something about the wrong in the world. God’s response? “I did. I created you.”

I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel. For I have heard the slander of many, terror is on every side; while they took counsel together against me, they schemed to take away my life. But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, “You are my God.” -Psalm 31:11-14 (NASB)

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. -John 15:16 (NIV)

We all make mistakes…and we all have a history we can look back on and regret. And being an agent of light doesn’t magically mean we don’t continue to sin or make mistakes.

The powerful lies you may believe

This is where the world and Satan tell you that you are the sum of your mistakes, and that your character and identity to your core is worthless, untrustworthy, and hypocritical. That you are no follower of Christ, no man/woman of God, because you stumble. You are damaged goods.

The truth that crushes the lies

We all fall short of God’s glory…including your accuser(s). Not one of us can keep all His commandments. This is why the new covenant came to pass…God so loved us that He sacrificed His own son for our sins and salvation! We are already forgiven!

Your identity in Christ is crucial in avoiding the trap of fear, guilt, and condemnation in which the world and Satan want to keep you ensnared, because you can’t serve Christ when your flesh is believing the lies.

Break the chains

Talk to God in prayer…even if it’s just a heartfelt groan or sobbing. Confess and repent of your sins to Him. Ask for forgiveness, and you will see that He actually has already forgiven you!

Know that God so loved you, that you are His child who cannot be separated from His love. He actually does His very best work with broken vessels, who can best receive Him, and then bear fruit. You are not to fear the fearmongers, but to take refuge in the Lord, whose truth of His love and creation of you—a branch of the true vine—can protect you from the worst the world and the enemy will throw at you.

Put your full armor of God back on. You just forgot to put all of it on! Every morning, put on each piece: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the gospel of peace on your feet, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (God’s Word). Remember that, with the full armor of God, you will be able to stand your ground against the lies and attacks, and after you have done everything, you will still be standing.

I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s very hard to walk with all the slings and arrows bombarding you, while you navigate the storm. But imagine how much harder it would be without God. It would be impossible. He will carry you through this to the other side victoriously.

You are an agent of light, a child of the One True King. You do not fight for victory…you fight from a source of victory!

Today’s soundtrack

Matthew West’s “Hello, My Name Is” puts these concepts into a catchy song. Enjoy!