“When you stand praying, if you hold
anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive
you your sins.” (Mark 11:25 NLT)
One of my teachers had each one of us
bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes to class. For every person
we'd refuse to forgive in our life, we were told to choose a potato, write on
it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag. Some of our bags, as you
can imagine, were quite heavy.
We were then told to carry this bag with
us everywhere for one week, putting it beside our bed at night, on the car seat
when riding, next to our desk at school.
The hassle of lugging this around with
us made it clear what a weight we were carrying spiritually, and how we had to
pay attention to it all the time so we wouldn't forget, and keep leaving it in
embarrassing places.
Naturally, the condition of the potatoes
deteriorated to a nasty slime. This was a great metaphor for the price we pay
for keeping our pain and heavy negativity!
Too often we think of forgiveness as a
gift to the other person, and while that's true, it clearly is also a gift for
ourselves!
-- Unknown (from a subscriber in Wisconsin)
#4658
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