Circuit Riders- Day 3
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is something I am no stranger to. Over this past year, I have been going through a journey of consistently forgiving what others have done and growing in compassion for those who have sinned against me. Sin, whether done by us or others against us can leave us in a burdensome state. Going into this message, we all to some degree struggle with unforgiveness or being offended. Having an unoffendable heart does not mean that what someone has done should not have an effect on you. It means that you choose to forgive someone taking off that pressure to want revenge or payback for their wrongdoings. Something we need to realize is that we need to allow people the space to be human because no one is God. God is perfect whereas we are not perfect. Giving someone that grace does not mean we don't address them in something we need to bring up with them. It means bringing up an offense in a way that respects that person and does not intend to harm them.
Having an unoffendable heart gives us the power to love those who have done us wrong. Something I realized in this past year with forgiveness is that in the end we have to face God. God gives grace as well as consequences for how we lived our lives. Especially in an offense that is hard to forgive where a lot of harm came, we need to realize that by us giving up an offense to God gives him the opportunity to deal with that sin in a way that only he can do, not any justice system nor any way we can deal with that offense.
Servant-Heartedness
Serving others the way Jesus served us involves humility realizing that we are called to serve those around us. Serving comes from a place of love. Serving comes with a privilege when one person is servant-hearted. I believe that this is something I can grow in just because serving is something that comes from a heart posture as well as an action. It is almost like worship. Are we worshipping God to be seen as a good Christian or because we are desiring relationship? Serving God and the people around us goes the same way. Serving should not be to serve our own self-esteem, but rather it should be to serve the King of kings. Something I felt challenged to do within my workplace, home, and school is to align my heart with God's daily. I think that is so important in serving in the way that Jesus served.
Carry The Love
The movement track I took part in was the Carry the Love track. With this track, I learned about hosting a gathering and supporting a group of people. Throughout my time in the Carry the Love sessions on the first day we talked about salvation, preaching the Gospel, original design, and strongholds. These are all important in making disciples as well as growing disciples within our communities.
With the salvation of believers, we need to know and understand the true Gospel. The true Gospel is not something to water down, but it is important in making believers who are strong in the truth of who God is. Many truths with the Gospel need to be understood like just because someone accepts Jesus does not mean we are promised an easy life. What we are promised is eternal life, so when we go home to be with the Father, we can spend forever in worship.
A clean breakup with sin is where you step totally out of the sin pattern you involved yourself in into a life following Jesus. This is an everyday decision to follow Jesus with your heart. A clean house is where God renews our mind with the truth of scripture. A clean house is a total transformation, not behavior modification. Transformation comes through a relationship with Jesus where he sets us free and renews our minds. Repentance can be a step into freedom which can make it joyful.
Original design is something I have participated in multiple times with Carry the Love and Brave Love coming to my university campus. As a college student who has struggled with my identity, every time I feel like I have had a call to step deeper into my identity. This summer I have been calling my summer of Original Design where I feel like God has been leading me in stepping into my identity while also letting go of self shame and insecurities. What everyone told me during the prayer time resonated with me in some way.
Strongholds are where we allow for the devil to have a place in our lives. When we let the enemy dictate our lives, that is where strongholds can be built and prevent us from going down the path God designed for us to go down. I was looking back on the Freedom Manual booklet I was given where it says "When our thoughts are out of alignment with God's truth, our lifestyle is in opposition to God" (35). I have been in therapy and I am studying to become a therapist, and I know based on my studies and experience that often what we tell ourselves or what we believe can lead us to act in certain ways. When I have thought before that "I am not good enough", it stopped me from having the confidence to share ideas or to lead others well. I have learned the importance in my own life of looking beyond the surface-level behavior, and I feel the same way in leading others to do the same.
Looking specifically at sinful behaviors, I think it is important to look at the root cause of the behavior. For me, I am working on not numbing. I numb through watching social media reels and keeping busy. Numbing is the behavior. I believe the stronghold is oftentimes grief. I believe the root of my grief is neglect from a young age and abandonment in my teen and young adult years. This is a simple example. I have taken action against this behavior, and to effectively deal with grief in ways that allow me to process it. Numbing never actually deals with the emotion, but going to God is important in healing from it.
After two long days, and feeling exhausted, I decided to take time to rest. I went back to the dorms to relax. Day 2 of sessions and 3 of being in California was a long day that was filled with amazing things. When my roommate got back, we went downstairs to the vending machine. When coming back upstairs, we saw some other people. We prayed over one girl together on the staircase on the way back to the room. I knew God had us right where we needed to be although I did wish I could have gone out that night.
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