April 12, 2025 • 18 mins
This episode focuses on the transformative power of forgiveness and its importance in living a life of humility and peace. By exploring biblical teachings, personal stories, and practical steps, we emphasize the necessity of releasing grudges to experience true healing and connection with God.
• The difficulty of giving and receiving forgiveness
• The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
• Symbolism in Greek
• Connecting Forgiveness and Jubilee
• Pride vs. Humility in Forgiving
• Flashback Testimony
• The Process of Forgiveness
• Pause for The Cause: Weekly Challenge
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Low Life Show, a space where we have
conversations about thestruggles of life, where we
declare war on pride and walkhumbly into renewed living with
a surrendered heart.
Where we take our past failuresand turn them into a roadmap
for you to live in peace andliving the low life.
Whether you're working throughpersonal struggles or simply
(00:23):
seeking a fresh perspective,this podcast will inspire and
equip you to live low and letGod lift you up.
I'm your host, dl the Lowlife,a reformed professional dirtbag
who's here to tell you that Inow live a life of peace,
transformed through humility.
Join me, let's get low what'sgood.
(01:20):
Welcome back to the Low LifeShow.
I am DL the Low Life, and todaywe're talking about something
that hits close to home for eachand every one of us Forgiveness
.
Forgiveness is hard to come byboth ways Hard to give and hard
to receive.
I learned this the hard waymyself.
That's why I kind of live by.
I'd rather ask for permissionthan for forgiveness.
(01:41):
People are just not thatforgiving these days.
Letting go of what someone didto you, I mean it takes humility
.
Here's the truth, though whenyou hold on to unforgiveness, it
doesn't hurt them, it onlyhurts you and it takes away your
chance to be forgiven by God.
You withhold forgiveness, sodoes he.
Living low means releasing thatweight and trusting God to heal
(02:03):
your heart.
So let's unpack why forgivenessis a game changer and how to
start the process.
We begin by looking at theparable of the unforgiving
servant in Matthew 18.
(02:25):
Then Peter came to Jesus andasked Lord, how many times shall
I forgive my brother or sisterwho sins against me?
Up to seven times, jesusanswered.
I tell you, not seven times,but seventy-seven times.
Therefore, the kingdom ofheaven is like a king who wanted
to settle accounts with hisservants.
As he began the settlement, aman who owed him 10,000 bags of
gold was brought to him.
(02:45):
Since he was not able to pay,the master ordered that he and
his wife and his children andall that he had be sold to repay
the debt.
At this, the servant fell onhis knees before him.
Be patient with me.
He begged and I will pay backeverything.
The servant's master took pityon him, cancelled the debt and
let him go.
But when the servant went out,he found one of his fellow
(03:06):
servants who owed him a hundredsilver coins.
He grabbed him and began tochoke him Pay back what you owe
me, he demanded.
His fellow servant fell to hisknees and begged him Be patient
with me and I will pay it back.
But he refused.
Instead he went off and had theman thrown into prison until he
could pay the debt.
When the other servants sawwhat had happened, they were
outraged and went and told theirmaster everything that had
(03:28):
happened.
Then the master called theservant in you wicked servant.
He said I cancelled all thatdebt of yours because you begged
me to.
Shouldn't you have had mercy onyour fellow servant just as I
had on you?
In his anger, his master handedhim over to the jailers to be
tortured until he should payback all that he owed.
This is how my Heavenly Fatherwill treat each of you, unless
(03:50):
you forgive your brother orsister from your heart.
Some of you may look at 70 times7 and think okay, so I've got
to give 490 second chances andthat's it.
(04:12):
What if I told you there wasmore to it than that?
See, in Greek, 70 times 7,.
490 can be explored in thecontext of symbolism and numeric
values of the Greek wordsthemselves.
While Greek isn't as deeplyemphasized as Hebrew, it still
carries significant symbolism.
The number 490 in Greek contextcan be seen in Matthew 18.22 in
(04:33):
Jesus' response to forgive 70times 7.
The Greek words directlytranslate to 70 times 7.
The emphasis is not oncalculating a limit, but on
expressing infinite forgiveness,as seen in the completion or
the completeness of the numbers7 and 70.
In Greek numeric symbolism, 7symbolizes perfection or divine
(04:57):
completion.
70 can reflect spiritualauthority or judgment, often
seen in the Septuaginttranslation and biblical usage.
I mean it's ten timesperfection.
Together they convey the ideaof perfect, boundless, endless,
limitless forgiveness from God,mirroring His grace.
In Hebrew there's a little bitmore too.
(05:18):
There's a connection to Jubilee.
In Leviticus 25, the year ofJubilee occurs after seven
cycles of seven years totaling49.
That is known as a time offorgiveness, debt cancellation
and restoration.
Jesus uses this imagery showingthat forgiveness is like living
in a constant state of Jubilee,complete restoration in
(05:38):
relationships paid in full.
Furthermore, I mean Jesus isthe bread of life.
He fulfills the concept ofultimate, unlimited forgiveness.
Just the same way breadsustains our physical bodies,
forgiveness restores our souls.
When we forgive, we reflectgod's endless mercy and his
grace towards us.
It shows us that in order Tolive truly fulfilled lives, we
(06:00):
absolutely need to be forgiving.
We should be seeking to forgiveas often and with the same
effort as we do for food whenwe're hungry.
All of this can be found in theperson of Jesus.
Again, get low before him, tossthe pride aside and get ready
for the ride.
Here in this parable, jesus wasmaking it clear If you've been
(06:30):
forgiven by God, you've got toextend the same grace to others.
Forgive and be forgiven,showing us that when we withhold
forgiveness, we can expect Godto do the same with us.
It's a heavy penalty.
On top of that, it's a burdenof stress not anybody needs.
Some of you may be saying notme, I've never felt better, or
(06:51):
it's the best weight lossprogram I've ever had.
By the end of this episode, Ihope you'll be singing a
different tune.
Now let's get into theimportance of forgiveness and
why you should be charitablewith it rather than stingy.
The first thing isunforgiveness holds you down and
chains you to the past.
When you are unforgiving, youstay in a constant loop of hurt,
(07:12):
whether you're conscious of itor not.
You relive that moment over andover again for the rest of your
life.
Pride won't let you release it.
Unforgiveness is a terriblething and a clear indicator that
pride has its grip on you.
It's that idea that you're incontrol, pride would have you
believe.
By not forgiving, it's alsoprotecting you.
(07:32):
You're keeping yourself safefrom being hurt again Because
now it's at the front of yourmind and you will be aware of it
every time it comes around thecorner.
You will never get hurt likethat again.
That couldn't be further fromthe truth.
Why would you want to hold onto pain, as if you cherish it
Like a trophy, even though youand I both know you're tired of
hurting, tired of suffering?
(07:53):
Holding on to bitterness keepsyou stuck, but forgiveness it
sets you free.
Forgiveness is also more aboutobedience and not at all about
emotion.
You don't have to feel ready toforgive, you just have to trust
God and take the step.
See, one symptom ofunforgiveness is emotion.
Emotion stems from pride.
(08:13):
It's a feeling.
It affects your mood.
Your mood then affects yourdecisions.
You ever notice how much easierit is to apologize or accept an
apology when you're notemotional.
Same goes with forgiveness.
Get about them.
Feelings.
You want to be about feelings.
Check this out.
Go, hit the block, find acorner boy.
You can buy feelings.
(08:33):
Feelings don't make you anymore or less human, regardless
of what the world says.
Forgiveness is about doing whatGod calls you to do.
It's not about how you feel.
Pride is what makes you holdgrudges.
Pride is what keeps you fromforgiving.
Humility releases them.
Pride says they don't deserveforgiveness.
Humility says neither do I, butGod forgave me.
(08:56):
Sometimes it's a grudge againstyourself that you hold your
pride, saying if only I werestronger back then, or if I were
smarter, or if, if, if checkthis out, if, if was a fifth,
we'd all be drunk.
Grudges are pointless,especially when anything that
you could do to satisfy themwould mean active and willing
disobedience.
Where God's concerned, humilitycomforts you and says you are
(09:18):
only a child.
You can't blame yourself.
Remember, you can't controleverything and be everywhere.
If you could, you'd be God andyou probably wouldn't be judging
or blaming or shaming yourselffor something that's not in your
control.
If you were God, you'd have mygratitude for life.
So forgive yourself.
If God forgives you, thecreator of all things, who are
(09:39):
you to withhold forgiveness,even from yourself?
Get low and experience releasefrom all that weight you've been
carrying for all these years.
Remember God's the one thatdoes the work.
The only thing required of youis a little bit of humility,
just enough to admit that youneed his help and a willingness
to forgive.
(10:12):
Now, for me, forgiveness hasalways been one of my biggest
struggles.
Until God led me on the path ofhumility, there was no
forgiveness at all.
You were dead to me, even if Ihad to make that happen by my
own hand.
If there was somebody who hurtme in my life, they're cut off
and it's on sight every time,but all it did was weigh me down
(10:34):
.
Recently, my cousin asked mesomething that I had not thought
about in a while.
He asked me if I had forgiventhe man who was driving the
truck that killed my mom.
For those who don't know, mymom was killed walking in a
crosswalk by a truck driver whowas texting it in a hurry.
Her and my dad were clearly inthe crosswalk and in a hurry to
make the light.
Nick Kennedy sped up and hitthem, both going about 45 miles
(10:56):
an hour.
His negligent actions took mymother from this world and they
also took my dad with her.
Not physically, he's still here,just different Less him.
He hasn't been the same sinceFor a long time.
All I wanted to do was find him.
And yeah, let's just say I'mnot just a creative when it
comes to art and media.
Anyway, I realized that Ihadn't thought about it in a
(11:19):
while, so I paused.
I did a trigger check, said hisname out loud and in my head,
no rage, no quickened heartbeat,no rise in my blood pressure.
I considered the entireincident.
I imagined every single thingthat used to get me going.
This is how merciful God hasbeen.
I found that I am completelyunaffected by something that
(11:44):
used to fuel me and fill me withrage.
It's like as this work he'sdoing within me.
As it came, it also came with afree forgiveness pass.
There were a few things thatwere unforgivable for me
Betrayal lying to my face, and,yes, I would always know when I
was being lied to.
Sometimes, though, it was justsomeone I didn't want to hurt,
(12:07):
so I'd smile and just know Icouldn't trust or rock with that
person again, treating my lovelike a toy that one's a big one.
I don't do well guarding it.
I feel like love is meant to beshared, not to be withheld just
like forgiveness, and the finalthing would be anything that
left any of my loved onesfeeling violated.
I mean, this incident here wasworse than all of that combined.
(12:31):
And here I am realizing thatjust how we should be aware of
pride sneaking in, forgivenessjust crept on in like a ninja,
sort of been a trend over thecourse of this newly reignited
walk with God.
I mean, if I can be cool withmy baby mama after all the crap
she pulled taking my kids, thentrying to file for all the
things alimony, child supportonly so she could dump them off
(12:52):
at her mom's and leave them,that should have me furious.
Instead, every time she camearound in need, I gave her what
I had and did my best toconvince her to get back to the
kids.
Whether she ever got back tothem or not, I have no idea.
I mean, but I should really,really be pissed, right.
I mean, during our divorce hermom filed a report with CPS
telling them that I slammed myfive-year-old daughter's head
(13:13):
through a wall and held my son,who was six at the time, at
gunpoint.
I'm not angry, my heart justbreaks for them.
This person portrays herself asa good Catholic.
I mean, I've seen her light thecandles and everything that
anyone would want to make up.
These kinds of lies is beyondme.
Probably another route frompride, not to say I'm anywhere
(13:34):
near perfect, but there'scertain things even a person
like me won't do.
Anyway, there was zero findingbecause it was made up.
Point is, I've got plenty ofpeople and reasons to be petty.
I might even be really good atit, but why?
Complete surrender of life andtrusting God is where you
forgive and are forgiven.
Then you have the opportunityto forget.
I'd be a fool to trade thepeace and the freedom that comes
(13:54):
from that.
You may be wondering how do youdo that?
(14:17):
Maybe you've never done itbefore.
I can't tell you what that bigincident, how that came about,
but I can tell you how I startedto become forgiving about the
other things.
You start small.
You pray for the person whohurt you, even if it's yourself,
even if you don't mean it atfirst.
You just keep on praying andeventually God does the work
(14:37):
that he needs to do, soffensyour heart in his time.
When it comes to yourself,think of it this way God
forgives you.
Why can't you?
If the creator and Lord of allthings forgives you, what gives
you the right not to Listen?
I've been and seen whatunforgiveness looks like.
It's vile.
It'll keep you enslaved tosomething that you couldn't
(14:59):
control forever.
You'll be in your senior yearsstill dwelling on things that
happened when you were a child,just ruminating, constantly
triggered and overcome withregret, shame, guilt, a need for
revenge, singing the shoulda,coulda, wouldas.
That's pride talking.
Want to know how.
I know I come from a proudfamily and I have seen uncles,
(15:21):
cousins, even my dad, holdingonto things that happened before
I was even born, still hurtfrom it, still triggered every
time.
The memory surfaces, keepingevery ounce of pain and hurt
readily available like they'retreasures or ammo.
Treasure doesn't hurt you,though, so why wear it like a
(15:41):
necklace?
That pain is not theirs.
It's not yours, so don't keepit as a reminder for it to
happen again, because what youend up doing is you end up
having your whole life focusedon that one incident, and the
whole time, pride will betelling you you're trying to
protect yourself.
Just kill that noise and getlow before God and ask for help.
(16:02):
If you spend too much time inthe past hurts, I guarantee you
you're going to miss out on allthe present joy and love that
surrounds you.
Remember the windshield isbigger than the rear view for a
reason.
(16:26):
Now it's time to pump our brakes, for our Pause for the Cause
weekly challenge.
This week, write down one name,one name of a person that you
have not given forgiveness to,that you have not forgiven, and
(16:46):
pray over that name every day,asking God to help you release
the pain and trust Him with therest.
Trust Him, though, completely.
If it's ever been a personworth trusting, it's got to be
the person of Jesus, right?
Just remember, as challengingand as difficult as it is, it's
worth it.
Letting go.
It frees you to live low andtrust God with your healing
Healing that you don't even knowyou need.
You literally do nothing, butlean on God for this.
(17:07):
Don't overthink and try to plansteps in your own strength.
Just ask him for his help andtrust Him.
Take back your life from prideand live the life God created
you to live.
Let's pray, father.
We thank you that you are theCreator of all things and that
you would mind us silly humansenough to forgive us, that you
(17:28):
don't withhold forgiveness fromus when we are willing to be
open and honest and trusting you.
We thank you that you aresomeone we can trust.
We thank you that we can leanon you and that our strength
comes in our weakness.
Bless the listener.
Help them to grow inforgiveness and in trust and
closer to you.
One more step this week.
(17:50):
We love you.
We praise you In Jesus' name,amen.
Next week we're talking aboutobedience, how living low means
following God's lead, even whenit doesn't make sense, even when
it's rough.
You're not going to want tomiss it.
Until then, stay low, stayblessed and stay ready for the
next episode of the Low LifeShow, peace.
(18:12):
Outro Music.
Welcome to the Low Life Show, a space where we have
conversations about thestruggles of life, where we
declare war on pride and walkhumbly into renewed living with
a surrendered heart.
Where we take our past failuresand turn them into a roadmap
for you to live in peace andliving the low life.
Whether you're working throughpersonal struggles or simply
(00:23):
seeking a fresh perspective,this podcast will inspire and
equip you to live low and letGod lift you up.
I'm your host, dl the Lowlife,a reformed professional dirtbag
who's here to tell you that Inow live a life of peace,
transformed through humility.
Join me, let's get low what'sgood.
(01:20):
Welcome back to the Low LifeShow.
I am DL the Low Life, and todaywe're talking about something
that hits close to home for eachand every one of us Forgiveness
.
Forgiveness is hard to come byboth ways Hard to give and hard
to receive.
I learned this the hard waymyself.
That's why I kind of live by.
I'd rather ask for permissionthan for forgiveness.
(01:41):
People are just not thatforgiving these days.
Letting go of what someone didto you, I mean it takes humility
.
Here's the truth, though whenyou hold on to unforgiveness, it
doesn't hurt them, it onlyhurts you and it takes away your
chance to be forgiven by God.
You withhold forgiveness, sodoes he.
Living low means releasing thatweight and trusting God to heal
(02:03):
your heart.
So let's unpack why forgivenessis a game changer and how to
start the process.
We begin by looking at theparable of the unforgiving
servant in Matthew 18.
(02:25):
Then Peter came to Jesus andasked Lord, how many times shall
I forgive my brother or sisterwho sins against me?
Up to seven times, jesusanswered.
I tell you, not seven times,but seventy-seven times.
Therefore, the kingdom ofheaven is like a king who wanted
to settle accounts with hisservants.
As he began the settlement, aman who owed him 10,000 bags of
gold was brought to him.
(02:45):
Since he was not able to pay,the master ordered that he and
his wife and his children andall that he had be sold to repay
the debt.
At this, the servant fell onhis knees before him.
Be patient with me.
He begged and I will pay backeverything.
The servant's master took pityon him, cancelled the debt and
let him go.
But when the servant went out,he found one of his fellow
(03:06):
servants who owed him a hundredsilver coins.
He grabbed him and began tochoke him Pay back what you owe
me, he demanded.
His fellow servant fell to hisknees and begged him Be patient
with me and I will pay it back.
But he refused.
Instead he went off and had theman thrown into prison until he
could pay the debt.
When the other servants sawwhat had happened, they were
outraged and went and told theirmaster everything that had
(03:28):
happened.
Then the master called theservant in you wicked servant.
He said I cancelled all thatdebt of yours because you begged
me to.
Shouldn't you have had mercy onyour fellow servant just as I
had on you?
In his anger, his master handedhim over to the jailers to be
tortured until he should payback all that he owed.
This is how my Heavenly Fatherwill treat each of you, unless
(03:50):
you forgive your brother orsister from your heart.
Some of you may look at 70 times7 and think okay, so I've got
to give 490 second chances andthat's it.
(04:12):
What if I told you there wasmore to it than that?
See, in Greek, 70 times 7,.
490 can be explored in thecontext of symbolism and numeric
values of the Greek wordsthemselves.
While Greek isn't as deeplyemphasized as Hebrew, it still
carries significant symbolism.
The number 490 in Greek contextcan be seen in Matthew 18.22 in
(04:33):
Jesus' response to forgive 70times 7.
The Greek words directlytranslate to 70 times 7.
The emphasis is not oncalculating a limit, but on
expressing infinite forgiveness,as seen in the completion or
the completeness of the numbers7 and 70.
In Greek numeric symbolism, 7symbolizes perfection or divine
(04:57):
completion.
70 can reflect spiritualauthority or judgment, often
seen in the Septuaginttranslation and biblical usage.
I mean it's ten timesperfection.
Together they convey the ideaof perfect, boundless, endless,
limitless forgiveness from God,mirroring His grace.
In Hebrew there's a little bitmore too.
(05:18):
There's a connection to Jubilee.
In Leviticus 25, the year ofJubilee occurs after seven
cycles of seven years totaling49.
That is known as a time offorgiveness, debt cancellation
and restoration.
Jesus uses this imagery showingthat forgiveness is like living
in a constant state of Jubilee,complete restoration in
(05:38):
relationships paid in full.
Furthermore, I mean Jesus isthe bread of life.
He fulfills the concept ofultimate, unlimited forgiveness.
Just the same way breadsustains our physical bodies,
forgiveness restores our souls.
When we forgive, we reflectgod's endless mercy and his
grace towards us.
It shows us that in order Tolive truly fulfilled lives, we
(06:00):
absolutely need to be forgiving.
We should be seeking to forgiveas often and with the same
effort as we do for food whenwe're hungry.
All of this can be found in theperson of Jesus.
Again, get low before him, tossthe pride aside and get ready
for the ride.
Here in this parable, jesus wasmaking it clear If you've been
(06:30):
forgiven by God, you've got toextend the same grace to others.
Forgive and be forgiven,showing us that when we withhold
forgiveness, we can expect Godto do the same with us.
It's a heavy penalty.
On top of that, it's a burdenof stress not anybody needs.
Some of you may be saying notme, I've never felt better, or
(06:51):
it's the best weight lossprogram I've ever had.
By the end of this episode, Ihope you'll be singing a
different tune.
Now let's get into theimportance of forgiveness and
why you should be charitablewith it rather than stingy.
The first thing isunforgiveness holds you down and
chains you to the past.
When you are unforgiving, youstay in a constant loop of hurt,
(07:12):
whether you're conscious of itor not.
You relive that moment over andover again for the rest of your
life.
Pride won't let you release it.
Unforgiveness is a terriblething and a clear indicator that
pride has its grip on you.
It's that idea that you're incontrol, pride would have you
believe.
By not forgiving, it's alsoprotecting you.
(07:32):
You're keeping yourself safefrom being hurt again Because
now it's at the front of yourmind and you will be aware of it
every time it comes around thecorner.
You will never get hurt likethat again.
That couldn't be further fromthe truth.
Why would you want to hold onto pain, as if you cherish it
Like a trophy, even though youand I both know you're tired of
hurting, tired of suffering?
(07:53):
Holding on to bitterness keepsyou stuck, but forgiveness it
sets you free.
Forgiveness is also more aboutobedience and not at all about
emotion.
You don't have to feel ready toforgive, you just have to trust
God and take the step.
See, one symptom ofunforgiveness is emotion.
Emotion stems from pride.
(08:13):
It's a feeling.
It affects your mood.
Your mood then affects yourdecisions.
You ever notice how much easierit is to apologize or accept an
apology when you're notemotional.
Same goes with forgiveness.
Get about them.
Feelings.
You want to be about feelings.
Check this out.
Go, hit the block, find acorner boy.
You can buy feelings.
(08:33):
Feelings don't make you anymore or less human, regardless
of what the world says.
Forgiveness is about doing whatGod calls you to do.
It's not about how you feel.
Pride is what makes you holdgrudges.
Pride is what keeps you fromforgiving.
Humility releases them.
Pride says they don't deserveforgiveness.
Humility says neither do I, butGod forgave me.
(08:56):
Sometimes it's a grudge againstyourself that you hold your
pride, saying if only I werestronger back then, or if I were
smarter, or if, if, if checkthis out, if, if was a fifth,
we'd all be drunk.
Grudges are pointless,especially when anything that
you could do to satisfy themwould mean active and willing
disobedience.
Where God's concerned, humilitycomforts you and says you are
(09:18):
only a child.
You can't blame yourself.
Remember, you can't controleverything and be everywhere.
If you could, you'd be God andyou probably wouldn't be judging
or blaming or shaming yourselffor something that's not in your
control.
If you were God, you'd have mygratitude for life.
So forgive yourself.
If God forgives you, thecreator of all things, who are
(09:39):
you to withhold forgiveness,even from yourself?
Get low and experience releasefrom all that weight you've been
carrying for all these years.
Remember God's the one thatdoes the work.
The only thing required of youis a little bit of humility,
just enough to admit that youneed his help and a willingness
to forgive.
(10:12):
Now, for me, forgiveness hasalways been one of my biggest
struggles.
Until God led me on the path ofhumility, there was no
forgiveness at all.
You were dead to me, even if Ihad to make that happen by my
own hand.
If there was somebody who hurtme in my life, they're cut off
and it's on sight every time,but all it did was weigh me down
(10:34):
.
Recently, my cousin asked mesomething that I had not thought
about in a while.
He asked me if I had forgiventhe man who was driving the
truck that killed my mom.
For those who don't know, mymom was killed walking in a
crosswalk by a truck driver whowas texting it in a hurry.
Her and my dad were clearly inthe crosswalk and in a hurry to
make the light.
Nick Kennedy sped up and hitthem, both going about 45 miles
(10:56):
an hour.
His negligent actions took mymother from this world and they
also took my dad with her.
Not physically, he's still here,just different Less him.
He hasn't been the same sinceFor a long time.
All I wanted to do was find him.
And yeah, let's just say I'mnot just a creative when it
comes to art and media.
Anyway, I realized that Ihadn't thought about it in a
(11:19):
while, so I paused.
I did a trigger check, said hisname out loud and in my head,
no rage, no quickened heartbeat,no rise in my blood pressure.
I considered the entireincident.
I imagined every single thingthat used to get me going.
This is how merciful God hasbeen.
I found that I am completelyunaffected by something that
(11:44):
used to fuel me and fill me withrage.
It's like as this work he'sdoing within me.
As it came, it also came with afree forgiveness pass.
There were a few things thatwere unforgivable for me
Betrayal lying to my face, and,yes, I would always know when I
was being lied to.
Sometimes, though, it was justsomeone I didn't want to hurt,
(12:07):
so I'd smile and just know Icouldn't trust or rock with that
person again, treating my lovelike a toy that one's a big one.
I don't do well guarding it.
I feel like love is meant to beshared, not to be withheld just
like forgiveness, and the finalthing would be anything that
left any of my loved onesfeeling violated.
I mean, this incident here wasworse than all of that combined.
(12:31):
And here I am realizing thatjust how we should be aware of
pride sneaking in, forgivenessjust crept on in like a ninja,
sort of been a trend over thecourse of this newly reignited
walk with God.
I mean, if I can be cool withmy baby mama after all the crap
she pulled taking my kids, thentrying to file for all the
things alimony, child supportonly so she could dump them off
(12:52):
at her mom's and leave them,that should have me furious.
Instead, every time she camearound in need, I gave her what
I had and did my best toconvince her to get back to the
kids.
Whether she ever got back tothem or not, I have no idea.
I mean, but I should really,really be pissed, right.
I mean, during our divorce hermom filed a report with CPS
telling them that I slammed myfive-year-old daughter's head
(13:13):
through a wall and held my son,who was six at the time, at
gunpoint.
I'm not angry, my heart justbreaks for them.
This person portrays herself asa good Catholic.
I mean, I've seen her light thecandles and everything that
anyone would want to make up.
These kinds of lies is beyondme.
Probably another route frompride, not to say I'm anywhere
(13:34):
near perfect, but there'scertain things even a person
like me won't do.
Anyway, there was zero findingbecause it was made up.
Point is, I've got plenty ofpeople and reasons to be petty.
I might even be really good atit, but why?
Complete surrender of life andtrusting God is where you
forgive and are forgiven.
Then you have the opportunityto forget.
I'd be a fool to trade thepeace and the freedom that comes
(13:54):
from that.
You may be wondering how do youdo that?
(14:17):
Maybe you've never done itbefore.
I can't tell you what that bigincident, how that came about,
but I can tell you how I startedto become forgiving about the
other things.
You start small.
You pray for the person whohurt you, even if it's yourself,
even if you don't mean it atfirst.
You just keep on praying andeventually God does the work
(14:37):
that he needs to do, soffensyour heart in his time.
When it comes to yourself,think of it this way God
forgives you.
Why can't you?
If the creator and Lord of allthings forgives you, what gives
you the right not to Listen?
I've been and seen whatunforgiveness looks like.
It's vile.
It'll keep you enslaved tosomething that you couldn't
(14:59):
control forever.
You'll be in your senior yearsstill dwelling on things that
happened when you were a child,just ruminating, constantly
triggered and overcome withregret, shame, guilt, a need for
revenge, singing the shoulda,coulda, wouldas.
That's pride talking.
Want to know how.
I know I come from a proudfamily and I have seen uncles,
(15:21):
cousins, even my dad, holdingonto things that happened before
I was even born, still hurtfrom it, still triggered every
time.
The memory surfaces, keepingevery ounce of pain and hurt
readily available like they'retreasures or ammo.
Treasure doesn't hurt you,though, so why wear it like a
(15:41):
necklace?
That pain is not theirs.
It's not yours, so don't keepit as a reminder for it to
happen again, because what youend up doing is you end up
having your whole life focusedon that one incident, and the
whole time, pride will betelling you you're trying to
protect yourself.
Just kill that noise and getlow before God and ask for help.
(16:02):
If you spend too much time inthe past hurts, I guarantee you
you're going to miss out on allthe present joy and love that
surrounds you.
Remember the windshield isbigger than the rear view for a
reason.
(16:26):
Now it's time to pump our brakes, for our Pause for the Cause
weekly challenge.
This week, write down one name,one name of a person that you
have not given forgiveness to,that you have not forgiven, and
(16:46):
pray over that name every day,asking God to help you release
the pain and trust Him with therest.
Trust Him, though, completely.
If it's ever been a personworth trusting, it's got to be
the person of Jesus, right?
Just remember, as challengingand as difficult as it is, it's
worth it.
Letting go.
It frees you to live low andtrust God with your healing
Healing that you don't even knowyou need.
You literally do nothing, butlean on God for this.
(17:07):
Don't overthink and try to plansteps in your own strength.
Just ask him for his help andtrust Him.
Take back your life from prideand live the life God created
you to live.
Let's pray, father.
We thank you that you are theCreator of all things and that
you would mind us silly humansenough to forgive us, that you
(17:28):
don't withhold forgiveness fromus when we are willing to be
open and honest and trusting you.
We thank you that you aresomeone we can trust.
We thank you that we can leanon you and that our strength
comes in our weakness.
Bless the listener.
Help them to grow inforgiveness and in trust and
closer to you.
One more step this week.
(17:50):
We love you.
We praise you In Jesus' name,amen.
Next week we're talking aboutobedience, how living low means
following God's lead, even whenit doesn't make sense, even when
it's rough.
You're not going to want tomiss it.
Until then, stay low, stayblessed and stay ready for the
next episode of the Low LifeShow, peace.
(18:12):
Outro Music.
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