The word of God in Mark 11:25 says And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. That is powerful. That means if you still can not stand the girl in the third grade that colored on your pretty picture, you have to forgive her so your sins may be forgiven. The word says if you hold anything against anyone you must forgive including things you hold against yourself!

It is hard to extend the gift of forgiveness to others if we have withheld the same courtesy from ourselves. We all have a past. Some of us have more sins than others, but it all equates to sin sin against the Father and sin against ourselves. We build prisons of chains of our making, based on sin and iniquity. In return, sometimes the Father has to subject us to bitter labor and distress so that we cry out to the only one who can break our chains and give us relief.

Once the chains have been broken, we enter in the realm of healing and deliverance. There is no reason to constantly hold on to a link or two from the broken chains. There is no reason to constantly remember the past that God has already freed you from. We must be the first partakers of forgiveness to truly be able to reap the blessings forgiveness allows a freeing of the soul from bitterness, anger, jealousy, and defeat. There is joy in forgiving.

It may be a hard task I am asking of you, but God has already sent His son to bear the weight of our sins and by His stripes we are healed. Your past could be an abortion It could be theft It could be abuse It could be prostitution It could be murder Your past can include so much more. I praise God right now for not leaving us or forsaking the covenant He made with us. He will make everything alright if you let Him. Take time today to reconcile with your past and move on to forgiving yourself. It will bless your life.