The Bible teaches us to forgive 7 times 70 and people questions Reverends, Pastors, and Clergymen, “What do I do after I have forgiven the same person more than 7 times 70 in my life?” My friend Catherine is very active in church and children’s ministry and she approached her Pastor about a family member and a situation in which she had to forgive the impossible it felt in her life and walk with Christ and this one person. She was told this, “You can forgive someone completely through prayer, repeated prayer; however that does not mean that you have to let them back into your life ever again, Catherine.” My friend was able to forgive, let go, and move on with this situation in her life and love from a distance, without any conversation needed for the rest of her life. A lesson of faith was taught to me that day. Forgive and pray for removal of any ill feelings towards another.
I recall a time in my life where I had a gratitude journal and a dump journal. The gratitude journal was bright and cheery and the dump journal was bleak and morbid in its appearance. I did this for six months of my life fifteen years ago, to remove ill feelings from my life. This was a daily chore for me that I made a habit of doing every morning that I woke up; even before I ate my breakfast, I would meditate and write on these two notebooks. The trick was this: gratitude before dumping in your journals. My gratitude list had to be 20 things in which I was grateful for on that day. Once I completed that task, I was then able to move on to the dump book. I would list ten things that were problems in my life, things I was furious about in my life, and people that I was mad at in my life. Eventually the gratitude list grew in its size and the dump lists were removed, because I found myself in a repetitious cycle, spiraling through the same exact dump lists and eventually, God removed them for me, in His time and not my own time; I prayed for their removal.
There are many things to learn about love and loss, grief and suffering, healing and emotions, thoughts and actions, reflection and contradiction, honesty and integrity, soul hunger and humility. I always have said that humility is not something that you just get one day in life; it is something that a person must tell you that you have in your spirit in order for it to be a spirit and soul characteristic. In working through so many of life’s lessons and struggles, trials and tribulations, it is imperative that we as individuals find the good in the bad in our days and just roll with the punches; God never promised us no trials in life nor did He promise a bed of roses for us each and every day. What He did promise us is that, “We reap what we sow”. Today, what are you reaping and what are you sowing in your daily walk with God? Are you a person of measure or a person of meanderings? Are you a dumper every day or are you a giver to others in your life? My challenge for you this month is to attempt to do a 60 day journey with me of gratitude and dump booking. Go out and purchase two journals-label one gratitude list 2012 and one dump list 2012.
Let us begin our journey of a lesson of faith together, that in life, anything is possible, no matter what the circumstances may be in your life today, honor yourself and your feelings and take this journey with me for 60 days within yourself. In finding a partner in your life, it takes releasing the negativity and getting to the core of your inner being before you can offer you heart to a man or a woman completely. Together, let us get to the inside layers of our spirits and souls and transform our lives, our though processes, and move forward not in fear, yet in faith this month.
Let us begin our journey of a lesson of faith together, that in life, anything is possible, no matter what the circumstances may be in your life today, honor yourself and your feelings and take this journey with me for 60 days within yourself. In finding a partner in your life, it takes releasing the negativity and getting to the core of your inner being before you can offer you heart to a man or a woman completely. Together, let us get to the inside layers of our spirits and souls and transform our lives, our though processes, and move forward not in fear, yet in faith this month.
Meg Collins
Columnist, Author, Radio Host, Editor, Ghostwriter, Poet, and Children’s Book Author.
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