Friday Fight 67 - Let it go or Let go of?

Every Friday, when I wake and pray, God places something on my heart to help me fight darkness beginning in our minds. Today is FF67.

How often do we experience something hurtful which leaves us unsure of what to do? Maybe it's a comment that leaves us confused or something hurtful said by a friend. Sometimes things hurt us immediately, and other times the hurt comes after we've had time to process things. Perhaps we choose to let it go. But how does this, "let it go" phrase genuinely apply?

Let it go or Let go of?:

We all have experiences that warrant us "letting something go" for our self-preservation. I try to unpack the situation or even look at the intent of the person's heart to gain perspective in moving forward. But often, there are things we've experienced and decide to “let it go”, but what happens after?

Let's look at the spiritual component in the slight differences between "let it go" and "let go of. " I'm sure some of you are now humming the song from Frozen; you're welcome! When we endure something hurtful and choose to "let it go," we essentially move it to the back of our minds and try to forget about it. But what happens when the "it" resurfaces later? Or we become bitter in the future because we thought we let it go but didn't?

I want to apply a spiritual tense to this lesson. Imagine both present tense and future tense.  The phrase “let it go” I would refer to as a spiritual future tense meaning damaging emotions can absolutely develop later. When we simply “let it go” are we surrendering to Christ or agreeing to detach ourselves from the situation?

Now to unpack the phrase "let go of." In this phrase, we are presently naming what we surrender to Christ and would be a spiritual present tense. This intentionality prevents bitterness from developing later by calling out and focusing on what we are letting go of, which is spiritually effective. Speaking this out also connects the mind and heart in a surrendered posture.

Darkness feeds on our misery. The more we agonize in pain, the greater his enjoyment. Satan excels in bitterness because it's a sin that attracts many other sins. If we can adjust our words to address things now rather than have them resurface later, it minimizes darkness' control.

We all have different ways of processing emotions, but if something significant has happened, rather than being quick to say, "I am going to let it go," change the wording to "I am going to let go of _____" and name what is being surrendered to Christ. One phrase is a spiritual action, and the other is inaction. Our words have great power, so let’s fight and pray for our spiritual health with them. A slight adjustment of our words can make a significant difference in how we feel about ourselves by limiting what we allow darkness to do.

“Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.” Proverbs 14:10

Pastor Shannon

New Life Calvert