In this episode we are talking about how forgiveness and Christmas goes hand in hand. this is part of a mini series as we reflect on the meaning of what Christmas really means. Today is about forgiveness, it is something a lot of us struggle with but we can look to the LORD God for guidance and follow in his footsteps as he guides us through our season of struggle.
Connect with me as you journey on in your mindset transformation! Now offering life coaching as a service, click the link below to get schedule a call with me.
In this episode we are talking about how forgiveness and Christmas goes hand in hand. this is part of a mini series as we reflect on the meaning of what Christmas really means. Today is about forgiveness, it is something a lot of us struggle with but we can look to the LORD God for guidance and follow in his footsteps as he guides us through our season of struggle.
Connect with me as you journey on in your mindset transformation! Now offering life coaching as a service, click the link below to get schedule a call with me.
I'm excited to connect with you! Remember, you can do hard things! "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me"- Philippians 4:13
*Affiliated with Painting Miracles, INC & Certified Life Coach through the I-A.M System
Hey friend, welcome to the Restore Mind podcast, where we are going to be talking about various life topics surrounding mindset transformation. Imagine what it will look like to have peace in your life, despite what the world is telling you. Hi, my name is Caroline, a wife, mom of three, and makeup turned fitness enthusiast. I am here to help you build a strong mindset that will propel you forward into a life of peace and joy. Philippians 4. 13 says, I can do all things through him who gives me strength. Well, my friend, there is freedom waiting for you. So if you are ready to build a 2. 0 version of yourself, then this podcast is for you. So grab your water, or whatever you like to drink, throw on your walking shoes, and let's get going because it's always 4. 13. Hello and welcome to the restored mind podcast. My name is Caroline. My friend, how are you doing this week? How are you doing today? If you are a returning listener, thank you so much for making the choice time and time again, to join me every Wednesday. As I launch a new episode. I appreciate your time that you give to me every week. And if you are a new listener, welcome aboard the restored mind family. I'm super excited to have you here. And I appreciate you so much for clicking on the link. However you got here. I just hope that today's episode is enlightening to you in that you see God's light in the midst of all of this.. Here at the restore mind podcast. We are talking about mindset transformation so that we can live a more peaceful and joy-filled life. today. We're going to be talking about forgiveness and Christmas. No. I know you might be wondering how are these two going to relate, but trust me, we'll get there. I just wanted to talk about this because forgiveness is something that I know a lot of us struggle on because there are so much emotions, raw emotions are attached to. our situations, that things that we go through, the things that have hurt us, and It can be hard at times, too. Lift it up to God, So we're going to just dive right in and I'm going to start at the very beginning of the Bible. We're going to be in Genesis today. I'm going to start off right off with scripture, because I believe it's going to set a foundation for this particular conversation that we're going to be having.. We're particularly going to be in Genesis. Chapter three, verse 15, but I wanted to share with you the overview of what's happened so far. In the beginning, God formed Adam. And then he planted a garden in Eden and in that garden was the tree of life, which was in the midst of the garden. And there was also a tree of knowledge of good and evil. After he created the garden of Eden, he placed Adam in there and said you can eat from any tree except the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because if you eat it, then you would surely die. So he tells this to Adam and then he also saw that Adam was lonely and says, it's not good. For man to be alone. So he created a helper. From the rib of Adam, which. We know as Eve. Then Satan took form of a serpent and went to speak to Eve and asked if. God actually said that you could eat from 80 of a tree. And so it turns out that the serpent was spewing lies. And Eve bought into it. the, either fruit from the tree that they were not supposed to. And so here we are at the fall of man. So once they ate is their eyes were both open and they knew that they were naked. So they Sue fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. God has this conversation with them, but he speaks to the serpent And he says in Genesis chapter three, verse 15. I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Now I'm reading from the ESV version, but NIV says he shall crush your head and you will strike his heel. Now I read this portion of the Bible multiple times, but I never got past the word. Imma T because I didn't know what it meant. And so I looked it up. And according to the Easton's Bible dictionary, it is a deep rooted hatred or to set oneself up against others. In this verse, God is cursing. Satan who took the form of a serpent. He's first promising to make enemy of the woman and Satan and all of their offsprings. So the ease offspring would eventually lead to the birth of Jesus. Eve. In Genesis chapter three, verse 20. So just a couple of verses down. Adam explains why he named his wife Eve. Which is to be mother of living things and in Hebrew, it stands for life giver and also resembles the word for living. Jesus says in John chapter eight, verse 44. You are. Of your father, the devil. And your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character for, he is a liar and the father of lies. So Jesus even tells us that Satan is not to be believed because he doesn't stand for choose. He is the father of lies. And that's one of the offspring. So to speak of Satan comes from, is when we start to believe and live into the lies that he tells us. But what's beautiful about this is that. We don't have to continue to live into these things that are the desires Of someone who does not stand for truth. Right. We can always turn. To Jesus, because by his blood, we have received salvation. So we still have an opportunity, multiple opportunities to turn away from the lies that we believe in into the truth of what Jesus says,. And so I feel like this is such a beautiful promise that we've received through the birth of Jesus. I know from experience that I have lived that life. I want to say. The majority of us, have lived into a lie or bought into a lie that we thought was our truth. And it led us down a path of destruction or pain and, feeling alone or isolated. So going back to Genesis, we know that, God has already promised to make the enemy of woman and Satan and all of her offsprings. So he also promises in that same verse to send someone who will bruise or crush his head and his head, meaning Satan. So enrollments 16, 20. It reads the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ be with you. you're probably thinking at some point. What does this have to do with forgiveness and Christmas? My friend, if you really think about it, when we're reading. The last portion of Genesis three verse 15, God makes a promise. He says he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. He's, uh, has already chosen forgiveness because as soon as. Sin had entered into the garden of Eden. God did not throw his hands up and say, you know what? You didn't listen to me. I'm mad at you and I'm going to stay mad forever. He didn't forsake them is what I'm trying to say. He had already had a plan in motion from the very beginning of when sin entered into the garden of Eden he chose forgiveness from that moment. Despite how hurt he was from that sin? So the birth of Jesus, the reason why we celebrate Christmas is important. Because it means that God has kept his promise and we see that throughout scripture of how the birth of Jesus. Because a lot of commotion, but then also his ministry taught us so much how to love. How to be gentle, how to serve his whole ministry was about serving. And he also taught us about forgiveness. We saw that as Jesus carried out his ministry on the cross, he died for us. So his. His birth is special. His birth is a symbol of God, keeping his promise to us so as I was reflecting on this, I thought about how hard it could be for us to forgive others, especially when we've been hurt by someone's actions. Or maybe we find it hard to forgive ourselves because we're just so critical of our flaws. When we struggle with forgiveness, When we struggle with letting. God do the healing because we are holding on to the pain that we feel. We can't be. Walking in peace or have a sense of joy in our life. Fully have a sense of joy that God wants for us in our life, and so we can lean into the birth of Jesus because it means that God has kept his promise. From the time sin entered into the garden of Eden, God has already had things happening in the works for us for all salvation. I was led to Isaiah one 18, which weeds. Come now let us reason together says the Lord though. Your sins are like Scarlet. They shall be as white as snow though. They are red, like Crimson. They shall become like wool. And see when you think about this. When cloth has been dyed, it stays that color for all of eternity. When you wash it, it may fade. But if that dye is still stained on two. The cloth. But God does the impossible. He says he can make us clean through repentance and make us as white as snow. How beautiful is it that our God not only forgives us, but washes us white as snow makes us clean again. And through the blood of Jesus, we're able to have that. And that's why his birth is so special. See God is the perfect example of love, compassion, and forgiveness. And Micah seven. Verse 18 through 19. And I know that I'm sharing a lot of scripture with you today in this episode, which probably doesn't sound like the norm for me, but I couldn't help, but share these scripture chews with you when it comes to forgiveness. Because again, I know it's very hard. For a lot of us to forgive, especially when we've gone through deep hurt. And we feel like no one can understand us. But Micah reminds me That God's love is steadfast, and he has compassion in verse 18 through 19. It says, who is a God like you pardoning inequity and passing over transgressions for the remanence of his inheritance. He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in steadfast love. He will again, have compassion on us. He will tread our inequities underfoot. You will cast all your sins into the depths of the sea. And so. I know that. It's hard for us to walk in perfection as a perfectionist in saying that it gives me a weird feeling. Every time I say that, because I like to feel or to think that I'm perfect in the way that I do things. But the truth is that I'm not. And so reading, this reminds me that my sense. R like Scarlet, but God's love is steadfast that he is willing to wash me clean white as snow, because he does not hold on to anger. And he delights in steadfast. Love to delight means to take pleasure in. Or to have satisfaction and happiness. It also means though to. To be soft and tender. It would not be a restorative mind conversation. If I did not ask self-reflecting questions and bringing accountability to the table, the reason why I love self-reflection questions and accountability is because I used to be that person that lived on the side of, I just want easy. I want everything to come easy to me. I don't have to exert a lot of energy. I don't want to have to keep. Thinking about these things that I didn't know how to deal with. And I will say that because I wanted that I received it, but there was no growth that happened from that. And it wasn't until I started challenging myself, taking accountability for my actions where the growth started happening. So we talked about how God is soft and tender. Right. And my self-reflection question for you today is are you reflecting that soft and tenderness towards God and others? We might find that it could be easier for us to reflect that towards God, but not towards others, especially the ones that we've been hurt by. And so I'll challenge you to really take a look at your actions towards that person, and just simply ask God or the holy spirit to be in the midst of that. And to begin the healing process. It is going to take a ton of obedience, a ton of surrendering and really a ton of pouring your heart out and praying multiple times for you to be able to be okay with releasing it. We just also talked about how God does not retain his anger forever. How wonderful is it that God does not retain his anger forever. Think about if he did that would mean that the. Promise of him sending someone to crush the head of Satan would have never happened. He could have just thrown his hands up and said, you're doomed forever. And forsake us, but he didn't do that because he does not retain anger forever. So my question is, are you holding onto emotions of anger or frustration of resentments of disappointment? Of doubt of fear. Thinking that maybe. This person or whomever has. Hurt you does not deserve your forgiveness or that maybe you don't deserve forgiveness because you can't look past how your actions may have hurt someone for one reason or another, or maybe you just. Can't let go of what you believe are your flaws? So these are the kinds of emotions that can keep us from receiving or choosing forgiveness. It can keep us from receiving God's forgiveness. Or it can keep us from choosing to forgive others that will begin to help us live a life of peace of healing and to step into. The kind of kingdom truth that God has for us. I was thinking about my journey on my unforgiveness and how I used to be so reluctant to forgive others especially when they've hurt me or betrayed my trust. And. I was reluctant to forgive because I thought that if I forgave them, this was the lie that I bought into. If I forgave them, that means that they're going to think that it's okay. And that they can do it again. The truth here is that most likely when you do forgive someone, they are going to do something in the future. That's going to hurt you again. The question that I was convicted with was if you commit sentence multiple times towards me, what makes you think that this other person who hurt you? Is supposed to never hurt you again. We're all flawed in our own way. And we repeat things that happen out of habit, or maybe we don't realize that we're hurting someone. they could possibly not even realize that they've hurt you in the process of their actions and the things that they said or done. But my thinking that if I forgave this person for hurting me, That. They would just think that it's okay. And do it again. It was a complete lie. It was a lie that I bought into because I lived in that thinking with my negative mindset that they needed to be perfect towards me after I have. Extended my forgiveness to them. But the truth is that I can't hold them accountable to perfection because I am not that either. And so when we look at forgiveness, it's not for the other person it's for you to begin your healing. So my friend, I would love to ask you today. What is stopping you from truly forgiving? And handing this over, releasing it over to God so that he can begin the healing process for you. I was thinking about how Peter asked Jesus Lord, how often will my brother sin against me. And I forgive him as many as seven times. And Jesus responds with, I do not say to you seven times, but 77 times. Which means not only do we forgive or choose forgiveness when someone. Would that we know is hurting us. With different things that they say. But also when we think about the time that we've been truly hurt by someone and. We think about how that affected us and we can feel the anger coming back up. We still choose to forgive them. And I know it's hard again. I know I keep saying that, but it really is because forgiveness is so much rooted and attached with our emotions, but my friend bring your emotions to God and let him help you sort it out, let him work through these hard things so that you can begin the healing process and truly understand what that means. Because when you understand kingdom forgiveness, your mindset will grow towards God and away from your flesh mind that can make you feel like you are entitled to hold on to this resentment and this anger. Aren't you tired of? Feeling frustrated and angry. It's like you expelled so much more energy doing that. Then you do living in peace and not worrying about. What that person. May have said or did to hurt you. Yes. The time that you reflect it may come up again in your mind and you may start to feel certain emotions arise, but that's still a great opportunity for you to invite the holy spirit to. Prey and allow that moment. To be filled with the glory of God. And so that's why I believe that forgiveness and Christmas goes hand in hand because it started with a promise all the way back in Genesis. And here we have the birth of Jesus as a promise. To us that we may receive salvation. And act God chose forgiveness from the very beginning and it can be hard for us to choose. Forgiveness and the midst of fresh cut wounds, or even wounds that we've hold on to for years now. But my friend. You can do hard things. Hey, thank you for listening. If this episode has spoken life into you or your mindset transformation journey, please share it with a friend. The growth of this podcast is possible through you. So thank you for your support and for being a part of the family. I look forward to talking to you again next week here on the Restored Mind Podcast.