Friday Fight 65 - Renewing or Releasing?
Every Friday, when I wake and pray, God places something on my heart to help me fight darkness beginning in our minds. Today is FF65.
How often do we reminisce and think of those who were once a significant part of our lives? We all go through different seasons and God graciously brings people in and out according to His will. But unresolved conflict can also sever relationships, and we move on to building new ones, and the reminiscing ends. But, how do these lost relationships impact us later on?
Renewing or Releasing?
We all encounter various relationships, some permanent and some temporary. We often believe it will be permanent, but a particular conflict dictates otherwise. It is painful, but we pray and move forward. It is impossible to focus on all our relationships regularly, but we do our best to make attempts according to our lives. But how much would it help our spiritual growth to be intentional about focusing on renewing those broken relationships? Please, keep reading! It doesn't mean we pick up the past as before or open ourselves to repeated hurt, but God calls us to love others, including those who hurt us. Perhaps we feel past wounds do not impact our hearts. We may think so but let's unpack it as either renewing or releasing.
The Bible says to love each other deeply because love covers a multitude of sins. The suggestion of renewing begins with lifting them in prayer. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart with the next step. Then, move forward in renewal by letting them know you are praying and love them. It's a big step; not there yet? That's ok; the Holy Spirit is a gentleman and waits patiently for us. Hold onto the expectancy that God will move. Finally, forgive them by speaking to them and God. Imagine how God can move once these chains are broken. If the person is not ready or it does not end favorably, pray and release them to God. It is better to release while attempting renewal than to do so in anger.
The enemy's trick in these situations is to feed into our minds using false weight. After painful experiences, darkness works continuously to bombard us with lies to foster chaos. The lies build, the hurt increases, and we, in turn, carry around this false weight. Darkness will always promote division.
Walking in obedience is not easy but brings the fullness of God's joy. A sister in Christ recently shared that we can let chains break our joy or joy break our chains. Today's spiritual warfare post brings a challenge. Make a list of five broken relationships and be intentional in focusing on them. Embrace the joy that comes from walking in the character of Christ to break these chains. Let's be intentional about walking in freedom.
James 1:2-4
Pastor Shannon