Many times those who
hear that through Gods appointing, I founded LAMB Ministries ask about that
work. Weekly I receive emails or phone calls from women seeking help. Those of
you who read Casa de Naomi: The House of Blessing, Book 2 might recognize some
of this work, which I will continue to post in the next few weeks. Though I am
certain that some who visit me here will have heard about or done this work,
and others might have learned these steps through another ministry, it is not
important where you learned these steps but that you do them throughout your
life as is needed.
The Scripture that
affirms this work is, Colossians 2:13 When
you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made
you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.
Step One - The Forgiveness Letter
“Everything is
everything,” the head of the dully diagnosed psychiatric department
that I interned in used to say. And it’s true!
Everything we've ever heard and thought about for 30 seconds is
recorded on our cerebral cortex as if it were an old phonograph record picking
up the vibrations and placing them on an ever spinning disk that repeats the
all negativity we have heard. Though it is not necessary to rehash what
was said, why, or by whom, it is critical that we take control of what we will
focus on. Choosing to do as Messiah did, we can intentionally ignore what to
many seem like barbs to grievous to turn from. Yet without taking
every thought captive to Christ, we might find out future swallowed
up by our past making that future one we would do anything to avoid!
Living ones own life
requires that the life they live have meaning. To achieve that end we need to
forgive ourselves for repeating whether aloud or in our mind, those offensive
words that created a joyless life.
Since many ask me why
they have to deal with this, I will mention that a reading of the fall of man
in Genesis will suffice. If you still need to know why, I will share
my hypothesis. Staring well before we could walk people told us what not to do.
Throughout our life each of us will experience more of that negative training.
Even the grading system in school erodes any idea that we can do something well
because for each good grade we are challenged with another obstacle. At home
our attempts to excel may have been met with the same negativity. The cycle of
"The Committee in Our Head” begins to warn us before we feel threatened,
protect us from supposed problems, and make us unhappily aware that we lack
something.
Before long we are
telling ourselves what others have, or worse yet we are adding to the already
heightened issue problems and phobias’ that never were ours.
Forgiveness
Unlike its prosaic name,
forgiveness is not an end all but an ongoing state in which we chose to
reconcile who we are with the disillusionment that others or we might have
unwittingly foisted upon ourselves.
To Begin
On a blank piece of
paper, list what the committee in your head says to or about you.
The Letter
A lot has been written
about forgiveness. Yet forgiving oneself is seldom mentioned. I bring this up
now because right about now every woman I worked with was about ready to blot
for the door. If you wonder why it’s because no one seems to want to own the
pain, however, following Messiahs model we know that only through confession is
redemption realized. So no don’t bolt. Grab hold of your courage and write:
Dear (your name),
Please forgive me for
(Using the list you made write your letter).
At the end of your
letter write; I promise I will never do this to you again.
Sign your name and date
your letter.
Note: when we remember
forgiveness is a process not an event, we give ourselves permission to write
another letter whenever we need to.
Until we meet again, may Messiah’s Shalom
The peace that transcends all understanding
Be yours, my friend!
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