WEBVTT
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They're meant to heal your family. They're meant to change
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generational curses. That's what forgiveness is about. So embrace it.
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Seek it. Be patient with it. Love yourself through it.
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Let God love you through it. And you're going to
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be great. Forgiveness or not forgiving someone is one of
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the heaviest burdens to carry. And that impacts not just
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your health, your body, your perspective, probably, well, I mean,
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it has all kinds of impacts. Everything I've just shared,
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it could impact your health. It could impact your places
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in your physical body, like tightness in the chest, tightness
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in the stomach. And it can also affect your perspective
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on others. I could feel the darkness that consumed this person.
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And all I could think to myself was, how could
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he have gotten so far away from God to not
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know that he is loved? And I was so sad
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for him. And all I could do was lay there
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and pray that some light, some light of God would
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break through to that man. Hi, I'm your host, Jeffrey McDonald.
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Welcome to Unlocking the Miracles Within. We're here at episode 23,
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Forgiveness and Unlocking Inner Peace. He got me today. It's
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another solo cast. And it really is because forgiveness is
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at the core of my journey. It's really, as I've
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shared with you in episode one, it's that moment with
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Jesus where I learned how much I was loved, how
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much I was not forgiving myself for all of my
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mistakes in the past, and holding some energy towards others,
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not forgiving others. So there's a lot of phases to forgiveness.
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But I fundamentally believe that forgiveness is the pathway to God.
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And I think we'll see that when I'm going to
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share with you a bit about how Jesus talked about
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it in the Bible. Although I would say you don't
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have to be religious to forgive. And the impact of
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forgiveness is so profound regardless of your belief systems. But
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for me, believer in Christ, a follower of Christ, one
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who's shared with you in all the shows, I think
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Jesus is the perfect model for forgiveness and grace. I
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also think grace is very important, so we'll talk about
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that too. So I want to start us off with
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a prayer of this one because this is very important
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that we connect and open up the right energy for
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this show. So Heavenly Father, Open our hearts, our minds,
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our eyes, and our ears, and all aspects of our bodies,
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where we're not forgiving ourselves, where we're holding judgment against ourselves,
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where we're holding judgment against others, where we need to
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be forgiven, or we need to give forgiveness. Let us
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see that clearly, Lord, and let us see the grace
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and the peace and the doors that open when you
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teach us how to truly forgive as your son Jesus forgave.
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In your name, in your son Jesus' name, in the
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Holy Spirit. Amen. All right. Well, let's get this show
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on the road. Let me talk about first, because it
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seems to be easier for folks to talk about forgiveness
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of others. And now there are different beliefs, different feelings
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around this that To be forgiven or to forgive someone,
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you need to be asked to forgive them. You need
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to be asked by them to forgive them. They need
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to step up to what they've done, how they've wronged you.
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And boy, that would be ideal. But that's not how
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the world works, right? Sometimes you may have wronged someone
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or someone may have wronged you. And you realize it later.
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But you don't have the opportunity. to ask for forgiveness
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from that person. It could be you just are not
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in their universe anymore. They could no longer be on
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this earth. So what's very important there is that forgiveness,
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I do not believe that forgiveness takes you to have
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to go ask for forgiveness to that person, nor does
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it take them having to ask you for forgiveness to
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actually receive forgiveness. I believe the energy of forgiveness and
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grace is more than enough. And I believe our real
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relationship with seeing where we wronged others or seeing where
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we have been wronged is with God and only God, really.
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But as many of you probably know already, or I'm
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going to share with you here, that forgiveness or not
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forgiving someone is one of the heaviest burdens to carry.
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And that impacts not just your health, your body, your perspective. Probably, well,
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I mean, it has all kinds of impacts. Everything I've
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just shared, it can impact your health. It can impact
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your finances. places in your physical body like tightness in
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the chest, tightness in the stomach, and it can also
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affect your perspective on others. Forgiveness doesn't mean that you
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don't hold someone accountable or you forget on what they've done,
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how they've maybe wronged you. Forgiveness is the opportunity to say,
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I don't really know all the reasons behind why I
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was wronged. But for whatever that is, I can forgive you.
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I can still see beyond that. I can love you.
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But that doesn't mean I don't stand there and hold
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boundaries and say, you're not going to do that to
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me again. It doesn't mean you don't say to their face, hey,
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you've wronged me. That's never going to happen again. It
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doesn't mean you don't. defend yourself. It just means you
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don't carry that hate, that anger, that grudge, that angst,
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that judgment towards them for the rest of your life,
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because you're the one lugging around that baggage. So that's
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where grace comes in. Because sometimes, I'd imagine, far beyond
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anything I've ever experienced, the stories we hear of people
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being sexually abused or physically abused by their families, by
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their loved ones. I can't even imagine that I didn't
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carry in this lifetime. And it's got to be one
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of the most difficult things in the world to forgive
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and to give grace for that. That's where God comes in.
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God can show us true forgiveness and true grace. But
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if we know one thing through the Bible, that we're
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all God's children, and we're, you know, as the church
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would say, we're sinners, we're broken. You know, we don't
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always know everything that went into making that human being,
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even someone that's this close to us that may have really,
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truly hurt us. And if we can just give that
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that judgment that fear that anger that angst to God
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and say God listen I know they're your child I
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forgive them I can give them your grace and your
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love what they did was wrong to me and I
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deserve that healing I deserve that first that care that
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love and that grace but I am not going to
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carry the burden of not forgiving them I'm going to
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give that to you And that's where grace steps in.
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You give yourself the grace and you give them the
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grace that you may not know the full picture. What
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if one of the things that God wanted us to learn,
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or we wanted to learn when we came here as
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a soul, of how to fully forgive someone who's wronged us.
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To forgive like God has forgiven us through his son, Jesus.
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What if that was our purpose and we came to
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learn that lesson? And they went to our soon-to-be father
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or soon-to-be mother and said, I need you to be
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the biggest, meanest, abusive person on this earth. I need
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you to do this for me so that Jeffrey learns
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how to forgive. and how to love as I love. And,
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of course, the person stepping up to that mission, that
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angel clothed in demon clothes, if you will, would say, yes, Lord,
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of course. I love Jeffrey so much that I will
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do that. I will be the biggest jerk in this
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lifetime for him so that he can learn this forgiveness.
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I know that's, you know, that's a... made up story,
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but I think where it's valuable is as a framework
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to say, we don't know what God has in store
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for us, but we do have one thing under our
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control is we don't have to carry that judgment and
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that anger and that fear. We're actually not serving ourselves
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by doing that. We are carrying something we shouldn't be
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burdened by. We shouldn't have in our framework. So that's
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when I have, I've had my challenges. Like I said,
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maybe not to the extent of people that have been
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abused in my prayers or with all of you. But
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I've had my challenges of anger and fear and judgment
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towards another. And I've learned, I've worked really hard to
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just forgive. To say, I may not understand everything here,
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and that's okay. I forgive. I don't forgive the actions
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they did against me, but I forgive them. And I
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can have grace. I can understand maybe they were hurting
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or fearful or angry and they acted out of brokenness.
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And what I truly want is for them to be healed.
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I think that's another big statement here is that if
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God's calling us, and I say this, I've said this
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before and I say it all the time, if God's
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calling us to love others, as he loves them, as
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Jesus shared with us, you know, love your neighbor as
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you love thyself. I say love your neighbor as God
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loves them. If God's really calling us to do that,
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that person is loved the same exactly by God. And
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even though God does not condone their actions, that they're
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sinful or they're against another or they didn't love their
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neighbor as they should, That's God's relationship with that person,
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not ours. I know I've had many people in my
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life ask me, you know, how do I apply this?
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And I always say, you know, it really depends. You know,
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putting it into action. And sometimes in a relationship, especially
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in a very close relationship, it's very difficult for you
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to forgive someone truly, truly forgive them and not, you know,
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not forget what they did and then to hold your boundaries.
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I've had couples in marriage relationships ask me, well, you know,
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they did this to me. I can't forgive them, you know,
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cheating on a spouse or those kind of things. And
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that may be true that you can't, you can't, you can't,
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you don't trust them anymore. You can't stay with them.
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That doesn't, that's not forgiveness. Forgiveness is you can love
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them in the perfect version as they are, that God
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loves them. It doesn't mean you have to continue to
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be married to them. It doesn't mean you have to
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stay with them. It takes a really, really strong and
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mature person on both sides of the equation. The one that,
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for example, was unfaithful and to the one that was hurt,
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that was cheated on. To rebuild that trust, and it
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takes real reverence, accountability, acknowledgement, a real yearning to grow
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to the other person to have a high level of
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forgiveness and grace and trust in the other. It can
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work out, but that doesn't mean it has to. It
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doesn't mean you can't make the decision that, well, you
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know what, this is just not going to work for me.
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But that also doesn't mean you have to carry that
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with you for the rest of your life. And it
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doesn't mean that everybody that you'll ever have a relationship
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will do the same thing to you and you have
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to become untrusting of having a significant other or spouse
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or whatever in your life because you fear they're going
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to be unfaithful to you. I hope that makes some
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sense in sharing that here because that's really what I'm
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talking about. There's all different kinds of levels of forgiveness
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and or I'm going to say levels, I would say conditions,
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if you will, where you can choose how to move forward.
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Not one's more right than the other. That comes down
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to actual love for yourself and forgiveness for yourself. Because
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many times when we don't forgive another or we judge another,
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we're not forgiving ourselves. Like, how could this have happened?
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How could I have not been aware of it? Whatever
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that is. That could be even I mean, I've talked
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about some serious things here, but that could be even
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in just a simple relationship, a work relationship. I've had
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work relationships where trust was broken, and in some cases
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I've held on to that judgment, and that festered inside
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of me. It only really resolved when I opened my
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voice and I shared, hey, this is not something I
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want to be part of. This I'm not taking it
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out on that person. I can love and see that
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person for who they are. But I don't deserve to
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be treated like this. I don't deserve to be in
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an environment where I'm not supported. And to have the
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strength to speak up is something I've had to learn
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over many, many years. You know, sometimes I've handled it poorly.
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And sometimes I've handled it very well. Sometimes I've carried
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that longer than I thought I should. And that's because
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I cared about those people. I realize that too. So
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sometimes it's really hard to forgive somebody or something that
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you really, really care about. That's important to you. Somebody
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that violated your moral code, as an example. Those are
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easy to hold on to and to judge on. But
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they do eat away at you personally, so you need
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to learn to let them go. Matthew 18, 21, 22,
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many of you are familiar with this. If not, ask
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Jesus how many times you should forgive. It's not seven times,
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but 77 times. That is basically unlimited forgiveness of someone
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who's wronged you. It's learning how to not carry that
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energy of, like I said, anger, judgment, fear. You're not saying, well,
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you wronged me here. You wronged me two times. I've
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only wronged you once, so you're worse than me. It's
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not layering that. It's saying, okay, you don't act that
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way towards me. I deserve better than that. I forgive you,
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but I can't. do ABC with you because this can't
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be in my world. I don't want this in my
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world anymore. And sometimes people will care about you so
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much and love you so much, they appreciate you speaking up.
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Sometimes it's just a misunderstanding. And sometimes they'll, you know,
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not be so sensitive to that. The second one is
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out of John. Forgiveness, Jesus says, peace... Peace I leave
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with you, my peace I give you. And this one's
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a really important one because forgiveness, I believe, is the core,
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central to peace. The reason we don't have peace is
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because we either can't forgive ourselves or we can't forgive
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our situation or condition. We can't forgive others. We can't
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forgive the world. You know, some people lament in the
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brokenness of the world. So I believe forgiveness is the
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core to that. Ephesians 4, 31, 32. Get rid of
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all bitterness, rage, and anger, forgiving each other just as
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Christ forgave you. Again, just repeating what I've said before
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is you can't carry that anger, that vitriol, that it
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will just eat away at you. I believe disease comes
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from that kind of disconnection. I call it a disconnection
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from God. We feel like we're justified, and we're justified
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in our actions. But that will eat away at you.
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Even if we got revenge, it will eat away at you.
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I don't believe there's a sweet, sweet revenge, as you
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kind of see in movies sometimes. Luke 23, 24, Father,
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forgive them, for they know not what they do. That
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was Jesus on the cross, right? I mean, they're killing
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their Savior. And all of us are responsible for that
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because we'll pretty much in a blink of eye want
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to judge someone and string them up. You see it
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all the time with famous people, right? They stumble, they
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become human, they have a mistake, and then the world
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turns against them. That's the fear, the anger, the lack
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of forgiveness for ourselves that's being projected. out into the
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world to say, oh good, you've got problems too. You're
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worse than me. You're not perfect. We all know that
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social media has increased the pervasiveness of that kind of
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belief that everybody lives in a perfect world. We don't, folks.
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We all have our challenges. We all have our doubts.
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We all hold judgments. We have judgments. Try not to
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hold them, but we have them. And we have fears
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and worries and misunderstandings. That's life. It's messy. So learning
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the art of forgiveness is, to me, it's like the
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most important thing. It's the Jesus walk, right? Jesus walked
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and bared the sins of all of us. And he's
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the ultimate forgiver. But it's our role to learn how
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to walk like him. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
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We're brokenhearted for many, many, many reasons. We're brokenhearted because
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we don't, in many cases, meet people where they're at.
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We don't stop to see them, who they are in
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that moment. We judge on how they interact with us,
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what they share with us, what they do for us,
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what they don't do for us. Do they smile? Do
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they not smile? Do they open the door for us
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or not open the door? We really don't know what's
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going on in their world. They may be the brokenhearted.
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They may need God. And God, His core nature is forgiveness.
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He gave His only Son to die on the cross
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for us. So if we want to walk in that image,
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we need to first step away from our judgment, from
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our expectations, and forgive. I'm talking about the most, the
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hardest thing, which is forgiving ourselves. That is why, I believe,
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the primary reason why we have a hard time seeing
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others for who they truly are and their brokenness, and
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forgiving them. Because we can't forgive those faults, those mistakes,
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those judgments in ourselves. It is one of the hardest
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journeys to go on. So in 2011, when Jesus came
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and said, God loves you as you are today, there's
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nothing you need to change. And the first thing I
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say was, are you sure about that? And as I'm
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laying there crying and all that, and Jesus says, I'll
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love you the same if you choose to lay there
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as if you choose to get up. That's not the world.
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That's God. You know, the world generally kicks you when
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you're down, right? It doesn't tell you you're worthy. You're
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worth it. You, it's your choice. And I realized in
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that moment, like, wow, look at all of this judgment
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that I'm holding against myself, all these expectations of what
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I am, what I should be, how smart I am,
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how much money I should make, how I fit into
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the world, what I am to my wife, what I
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am to my kids, what I am to my friends,
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what I am to my colleagues. What are they going
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to think about me in that particular case? In the
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psych ward, what are they going to think about me now?
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I'm a mess. I'm broken. Well, God came close to
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me because I was brokenhearted, and I needed to learn
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how to love myself. And learning how to love myself
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started with forgiving myself, giving myself grace. like you would
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a child, like a little child. I believe that's why
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my inner child showed up there with Jesus. Because I
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didn't have all those expectations. That weight of the world
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wasn't on me at that age. So we just need
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to stop and listen and say, how would I treat
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myself like I would treat the little version of myself?
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It's easy for me today because of my grandkids. And
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just to love and be patient with them and to
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be present with them And let them make mistakes. You know, let,
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try to do my best not to judge them. I mean, that's,
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that's a gift. That's a blessing. I apply that to myself.
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I try to apply that to myself. And it's gotten
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better and better over time. This wasn't an overnight process
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for me. You could see, oh, this is 15 years
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later and I'm still working on it. So it's a
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lifelong journey, I believe. But I think if you can say,
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you know what? Where in my life have I not
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forgiven myself? I'm going to share a story with you
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that I think might, may or may not help, but
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it'll give you kind of a perspective of how long
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you can hold things that you're just not aware of.
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I knew there was something in my heart that wasn't
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allowing me to open up and receive the love that
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Jesus gave me. And I knew I had available to me.
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I knew I deserved, and so I went to a therapist,
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and we were working. We were actually doing a technique.
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They were a traditional therapist, but they also did tapping,
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and so she did some tapping with me. If you've
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never done tapping, you can check it out. My buddy,
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Dawson Church, was one of the early episodes. He has
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EFT Universe. It's very effective. It was very effective for me.
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But I didn't know what it was. And so we
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kind of opened the doorway to that. And I come
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to find out that I still was holding in my heart,
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which I thought I had gotten by, I just stuffed
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it down really good, my parents' divorce. And at that time,
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I was the age of 10. My mom had my
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dad removed from the house. Now, fortunately, there was no... no...
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nothing visible to us as kids. It was kind of
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came as a shock. I'm sure there were things, but
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we didn't notice it as kids. But one of the
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hardest things was having our father have to leave us.
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And because, you know, we all, we love our parents
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very much, but we were very close to our father.
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And he took us all into a bathroom in the
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house to tell us that he had to pack up
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and leave. It was just all of a sudden, And
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of course, we were all crying. He was crying. And
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when I did this therapy and I went back into
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this moment, I had realized that that little version of me,
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because I'm very, very empathic and I'm very, I'm very
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much a loving person. And I want to be there
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to help others through things. But in that particular situation,
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I took on my father's pain. And I was like,
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if I don't handle this. I'm afraid my father's not
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going to be able to make it. I thought he
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was going to break. And that was a 10-year-old boy.
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And when I came to realize that that 10-year-old boy
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was carrying that burden back then, and I never let
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it go, I was like, wow, little man, you didn't
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understand what was about that relationship, what was right, what
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was wrong, what decisions need to be made. I didn't
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understand any of those perspectives. And from that moment, for
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a long time, I carried a lot of anger towards
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my mother for making that decision and impacting us. And
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that led to some teenage angst years against my mom.
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So when I went through that, after I had my
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2011 episode and I went through that and I realized
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I was still carrying that anger, even though my mom
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and I had Developed a strong relationship. I had learned
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to forgive a lot of that. I still had not
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given that 10-year-old boy in me grace enough to say, hey,
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this is not your emotional burden to carry. You need
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to let go and forgive yourself for trying to do
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something that you were not meant to do. You just
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couldn't do. It's not possible. And Fortunately, through that process,
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it only took two to three sessions, and we were
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able to release that. As a matter of fact, at
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that point, I couldn't even talk about this episode right now.
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Talking very clearly about it was that emotional for me.
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It was trapped in my body. And I was able
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to release that, and that was just so profound. And
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having me open my heart up even more to myself,
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but also to my parents, my mom and dad, who
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I love very much, but I was able to open
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up even more to that. It's just a very simple
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thing where you think, okay, was that really forgiveness? Yeah,
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it was forgiveness. It was forgiveness for that little boy
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trying to be too much. Many of us are in relationships,
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whatever that is, being a parent or a spouse or,
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you know my case a grandparent and we try to
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step into spaces because we love so much we try
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to step into spaces that we're not meant to step
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into and when we realize it like oh wow i
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really can't do anything i can't change this person i
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can't i can't carry they're in they're an adult too
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or Maybe they're just learning how to deal with emotions
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as in a child. I can't fix this for them.
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I just really need to be present for them. I
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don't need to carry it for them. I don't need
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to save them. I just need to be here with
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them and for them and truly love them. And when
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we can forgive maybe us overstepping, in my case as
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a 10-year-old child, or many times I've overstepped in my
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marriage with my beautiful wife, Julie, And if we can't
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stop and go, oh, yeah, I see that. I forgive
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myself for that. And I choose to act a different way. Now,
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as I shared before, not every time you need to,
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you know, run and fall down on your knees. Forgive me,
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forgive me, forgive me. Of course, I tell my wife
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I'm sorry sometimes. But sometimes I just choose to act differently.
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Because it may be something that didn't faze her. I caution...
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folks on not getting caught up into the what was
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me type victimhood where we seek forgiveness just to feel
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better about ourselves. You should talk to, really sit with
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yourself and talk to God about, hey, is this something
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I need to face with this person and ask them
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for forgiveness? Would that serve them their highest good, and
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would that serve my highest good? Would that exactly to
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be what you need me to do, Lord? Or is
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it that I face that behavior and truly conscious of it,
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I'm truly contrite, and I truly ask for forgiveness, like
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a confession? That's why confessions are so effective in the
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Catholic churches, because you're asking, you're speaking out loud what
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you're asking for in your heart for forgiveness for. And
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God forgives you, you know, if you truly, you truly
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see the whole story there. But sometimes we can fall
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into this pattern of, oh, well, forgive me. I'm sorry.
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Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive me because I did this
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and I'm stupid. I'm just this way. That's a good
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sign that you're not really asking for forgiveness. That's just
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who I am. That's how I was raised. I'm OCD.
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Whatever the description and explanation is, when you try to
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explain it away, that's not real forgiveness. Real forgiveness is
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seeing the broader perspective of it, what you need to learn,
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how you can act better, how you choose to act better,
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and whatever that is, the situation that is in that relationship,
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in the world, in the universe, you can truly say, hey,
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that's not the... person in my case that's not the
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man I choose to be I hope that makes sense
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it's really getting yourself out of shame mulling over the
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mistakes using an excuse like well that's just the way
468
00:33:07.089 --> 00:33:09.589
I am that's the one I hear the most out
469
00:33:09.630 --> 00:33:13.190
of folks well that's just who I am I just
470
00:33:13.250 --> 00:33:14.750
am a jerk and I'm going to be a jerk
471
00:33:14.809 --> 00:33:19.430
and that's not true this is not true you can
472
00:33:19.490 --> 00:33:23.700
choose to behave differently That's just someone who doesn't want
473
00:33:23.720 --> 00:33:26.480
to face the shame and the guilt and the fear
474
00:33:26.519 --> 00:33:29.779
and the anger. Someone who hasn't really forgiven themselves and
475
00:33:29.819 --> 00:33:39.650
they're justifying their actions. Completely different thing. God forgives you. Jesus,
476
00:33:41.049 --> 00:33:47.390
serve that purpose. Seek God. Seek that forgiveness first. Understand
477
00:33:48.789 --> 00:33:51.789
what it is that you want to do. shift, be
478
00:33:51.849 --> 00:33:56.990
forgiven for, and then choose to act differently. And don't.
479
00:33:57.190 --> 00:34:00.210
You're going to fall again and again. We're just human.
480
00:34:00.430 --> 00:34:02.670
We do the same thing. And sometimes I think we
481
00:34:02.710 --> 00:34:05.339
fall multiple times in kind of a similar area so
482
00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:08.719
that we can learn the broader impact of it. Sometimes
483
00:34:08.760 --> 00:34:11.260
we don't see the whole picture. I think that's where
484
00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:13.150
the seven, 77, not seven times, 77, Jesus shared. Um,
485
00:34:21.150 --> 00:34:25.289
When I, I've said this before, when I face challenges,
486
00:34:25.349 --> 00:34:29.829
when I face difficulties, and it really challenges me to forgive,
487
00:34:29.909 --> 00:34:33.489
I get a little excited about it now that I
488
00:34:33.530 --> 00:34:36.340
became aware of where I was out of alignment and
489
00:34:36.360 --> 00:34:42.440
that I have the opportunity to choose a forgiveness, to
490
00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:46.400
choose forgiving myself or choose forgiving someone else. And I
491
00:34:46.460 --> 00:34:52.989
know in the core that that unlocks something, I don't
492
00:34:53.010 --> 00:34:55.250
want to say levels me up, so it's like a game.
493
00:34:55.269 --> 00:34:59.969
I get the level two version of Jeffrey, level three
494
00:35:00.030 --> 00:35:04.570
version of Jeffrey, but it does. It broadens your compassion.
495
00:35:04.650 --> 00:35:09.550
It broadens your understanding. It broadens your presence. It broadens
496
00:35:09.590 --> 00:35:13.570
your love, ability to love. Every time you forgive, it
497
00:35:13.590 --> 00:35:17.739
just takes you to a whole new level. There's so
498
00:35:17.780 --> 00:35:20.900
many stories out there of people forgiving things that you
499
00:35:20.920 --> 00:35:23.820
can't even imagine them forgiven for, you know, having their
500
00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:27.590
child killed in a car accident from a drunk driver.
501
00:35:28.250 --> 00:35:30.349
There's just so many stories out in the world. But
502
00:35:30.389 --> 00:35:33.969
you see, when they did forgive, how that changed the world.
503
00:35:34.090 --> 00:35:37.030
I remembered one. I don't remember the name of the individual,
504
00:35:37.070 --> 00:35:42.079
but it was that situation where the mother went into
505
00:35:42.139 --> 00:35:46.079
prison and forgave the driver. It was a young man
506
00:35:46.099 --> 00:35:53.079
at the time. And just open up a relationship between
507
00:35:53.199 --> 00:35:56.159
the two of them that you know because he was
508
00:35:56.280 --> 00:36:01.780
really seeking forgiveness and ended up seeking God and seeking
509
00:36:01.820 --> 00:36:06.219
God's forgiveness and she just felt that and that lifted
510
00:36:06.260 --> 00:36:08.289
a weight off of her but he ended up going
511
00:36:08.389 --> 00:36:13.269
out and serving the world and talking about drinking and
512
00:36:13.289 --> 00:36:17.769
driving and getting young people to see what he went
513
00:36:17.789 --> 00:36:19.590
through because he did go to prison and served his
514
00:36:19.630 --> 00:36:24.090
sentence and Obviously, that mother's never going to get their
515
00:36:24.110 --> 00:36:32.380
child back, but she also learned that forgiveness did allow
516
00:36:32.420 --> 00:36:35.380
God to work in that man's heart to serve the
517
00:36:35.420 --> 00:36:38.570
world in much greater ways, and that'll never get her
518
00:36:38.619 --> 00:36:44.530
child back. She can never forget what had happened. It
519
00:36:44.550 --> 00:36:46.869
doesn't mean she wants it to happen again, but she
520
00:36:47.110 --> 00:36:51.719
can forgive him for his grievous errors and bring him
521
00:36:51.760 --> 00:36:57.789
closer to God and her closer to God. Oh, I
522
00:36:57.809 --> 00:36:59.789
think this might wrap it up the best. I've actually
523
00:36:59.869 --> 00:37:02.849
shared this before. This is another story I wanted to share,
524
00:37:04.190 --> 00:37:07.150
but it amazed me, and it was so God. I
525
00:37:07.550 --> 00:37:10.460
was on the road. I was traveling on business, and
526
00:37:10.500 --> 00:37:12.900
I was in my hotel room, and I was watching
527
00:37:12.940 --> 00:37:16.320
the news. It was You can probably figure out the year,
528
00:37:16.360 --> 00:37:18.019
but it was the year where there was the big
529
00:37:18.119 --> 00:37:23.239
Colorado theater shooting. And it just had happened. And I
530
00:37:23.300 --> 00:37:25.530
was watching it and I was very connected to it.
531
00:37:25.559 --> 00:37:29.190
I was emotionally connected to it because it was just
532
00:37:29.210 --> 00:37:32.550
so horrific. Where that young man came in a theater
533
00:37:32.610 --> 00:37:36.090
with his weapon and was just shooting people in the
534
00:37:36.110 --> 00:37:39.219
movie theater as they were trying to, you know, scream
535
00:37:39.260 --> 00:37:42.599
and run out. There was a couple, they were actually
536
00:37:42.639 --> 00:37:44.960
a gay couple, that was sitting close to the front.
537
00:37:46.340 --> 00:37:48.940
And immediately when the shooter walked in, and of course
538
00:37:48.980 --> 00:37:54.239
the panic ensued, they hit the floor and the shots
539
00:37:54.260 --> 00:37:59.000
were ringing out. And his partner and him were both shot.
540
00:38:00.469 --> 00:38:03.230
And he could tell his partner was dead on the
541
00:38:03.269 --> 00:38:06.429
floor next to him. This person he loved and had
542
00:38:06.469 --> 00:38:11.179
a significant relationship with. He was still conscious. And at
543
00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:14.199
that point, they were near the front where the shooter was.
544
00:38:14.239 --> 00:38:17.130
So he had fell and was laying right near the
545
00:38:17.150 --> 00:38:22.289
shooter's feet. And he couldn't move. And the shots continued
546
00:38:22.309 --> 00:38:25.909
to ring out. And the reporter that was interviewing him,
547
00:38:25.929 --> 00:38:29.389
because he had survived the interviewing, he was explaining the story,
548
00:38:29.409 --> 00:38:35.380
asked him, you know, if you could talk to that shooter.
549
00:38:36.380 --> 00:38:38.440
I believe he was killed in that exchange. He was
550
00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:42.320
killed to my killer. He killed himself. If you could
551
00:38:42.340 --> 00:38:45.340
talk to him, what would you tell him? I'm sure
552
00:38:45.409 --> 00:38:49.710
you're angry that you lost your loved one. And he said,
553
00:38:49.730 --> 00:38:51.929
it just brought me to tears. He said, when I
554
00:38:51.969 --> 00:38:53.570
was laying there and I thought I was going to die,
555
00:38:53.590 --> 00:38:56.550
and I saw that my partner had died, and he's crying,
556
00:38:56.590 --> 00:38:59.920
of course, while he's telling this, I could feel the
557
00:38:59.960 --> 00:39:04.699
darkness that consumed this person. And all I could think
558
00:39:04.739 --> 00:39:09.280
to myself was, how could he have gotten so far
559
00:39:09.340 --> 00:39:15.289
away from God to not know that he is loved.
560
00:39:16.110 --> 00:39:19.230
And I was so sad for him. And all I
561
00:39:19.250 --> 00:39:22.510
could do was lay there and pray that some light,
562
00:39:22.750 --> 00:39:25.469
some light of God would break through to that man.
563
00:39:25.489 --> 00:39:28.170
He said, I didn't know if I would survive, but
564
00:39:28.190 --> 00:39:29.969
that's all I could think about. I was just praying.
565
00:39:30.250 --> 00:39:34.210
to God to bring the light to that human being,
566
00:39:34.250 --> 00:39:38.030
and I was so sad for him. And I just
567
00:39:38.159 --> 00:39:43.719
broke down in tears because if that's not forgiveness, if
568
00:39:43.739 --> 00:39:46.079
that's not God working through that man, if that is
569
00:39:46.099 --> 00:39:53.969
not what exactly what this whole show is about. What
570
00:39:54.010 --> 00:39:57.630
is it? This is a man who's just recovering at
571
00:39:57.670 --> 00:40:01.329
the hospital, coming out of bullet wounds. You know, his
572
00:40:01.369 --> 00:40:05.309
near-death experience. And all he could do in this moment
573
00:40:05.349 --> 00:40:09.889
of great panic and all this terror and horror was
574
00:40:09.929 --> 00:40:14.789
think about how far this individual is away from God
575
00:40:14.869 --> 00:40:19.590
and knowing how much they are loved. Anyway, it's a
576
00:40:19.630 --> 00:40:23.530
great story. I just, I'll never forget that. It was
577
00:40:23.730 --> 00:40:29.300
one of the biggest lights on a news interview I've
578
00:40:29.340 --> 00:40:38.920
ever seen. So, you know what? Not my typical hour show,
579
00:40:38.960 --> 00:40:40.679
but I think we did good. We covered a lot
580
00:40:40.719 --> 00:40:46.329
of topics. I hope you found some benefit. I want
581
00:40:46.349 --> 00:40:51.659
to Just share with you a couple tips before I
582
00:40:51.699 --> 00:41:02.269
go on forgiveness. One is if you know, if you
583
00:41:02.389 --> 00:41:04.949
actually have caught the moment where you're not in forgiveness,
584
00:41:06.630 --> 00:41:11.789
don't rush to try to force it. Just stop. Hold yourself.
585
00:41:13.199 --> 00:41:15.400
Love yourself. Take a deep breath. Put your hand on
586
00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:21.760
your heart and just Open up. If you're like me,
587
00:41:21.780 --> 00:41:23.860
open up to prayer to God and say, God, I
588
00:41:23.960 --> 00:41:31.489
see this here. Help hold my hand through forgiving this person,
589
00:41:31.510 --> 00:41:35.170
through forgiving myself. Hold my hand. Be here with me.
590
00:41:35.389 --> 00:41:39.210
No matter how long it takes. Thank you for helping
591
00:41:39.250 --> 00:41:42.989
me be aware of it. But even before that, a
592
00:41:43.090 --> 00:41:44.809
lot of it is that you're not even aware that
593
00:41:44.829 --> 00:41:48.800
you're not like I was with the divorce. I wasn't
594
00:41:48.820 --> 00:41:51.599
even where I was able to hold that energy. So
595
00:41:51.619 --> 00:41:53.480
what did I do in that moment? I just asked.
596
00:41:53.699 --> 00:41:57.519
I asked God, show me. Show me where I'm holding
597
00:41:57.619 --> 00:42:03.210
any anger, fear, judgment against myself or against others. Show me, Lord.
598
00:42:04.570 --> 00:42:06.250
And let me give that to you. Show me how
599
00:42:06.269 --> 00:42:08.010
to give that to you. Show me how to love more.
600
00:42:08.070 --> 00:42:12.289
Show me how to receive love more. So that's important.
601
00:42:12.829 --> 00:42:15.710
You can't deal with something until you're aware of it.
602
00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:19.199
Even have this discussion. You listen to this whole discussion
603
00:42:19.960 --> 00:42:22.480
and you start having dreams and you start having things
604
00:42:22.539 --> 00:42:27.409
come up. Don't ignore them because that's what happens. They
605
00:42:27.449 --> 00:42:29.409
get triggered because they're meant to come up. They're meant
606
00:42:29.449 --> 00:42:32.289
to release. They're meant to heal. Not just you. They're
607
00:42:32.309 --> 00:42:35.309
meant to heal the others involved in this. They're meant
608
00:42:35.349 --> 00:42:38.960
to heal your family. They're meant to change generational curses.
609
00:42:39.000 --> 00:42:43.739
That's what forgiveness is about. So embrace it. Seek it.
610
00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:46.639
Be patient with it. Love yourself through it. Let God
611
00:42:46.699 --> 00:42:49.260
love you through it. And you're going to be great.
612
00:42:49.820 --> 00:42:51.579
I wanted to share with you that my Power of
613
00:42:51.659 --> 00:42:55.260
Prayer book is actually available for pre-order. It will be
614
00:42:55.300 --> 00:42:57.699
launched on June 17th. So if you're listening to this
615
00:42:57.739 --> 00:43:01.929
show and you want to, actually, you can go to
616
00:43:01.969 --> 00:43:10.159
my website, get.powerofprayerbook.com. And if you go there, You can
617
00:43:10.199 --> 00:43:13.760
download the free first chapter, I believe, formally, and allowing
618
00:43:13.780 --> 00:43:15.739
people to tap into the energy to see if it's
619
00:43:15.760 --> 00:43:18.530
for them. You can read the first chapter, and if
620
00:43:18.550 --> 00:43:20.210
you love it, pre-order it, because there's a lot of
621
00:43:20.250 --> 00:43:22.530
special bonuses that come with the pre-order that you're just
622
00:43:22.570 --> 00:43:25.210
not going to get when it gets released on Amazon
623
00:43:25.250 --> 00:43:31.570
or in bookstores. I'm so glad to have it done. Actually,
624
00:43:31.610 --> 00:43:35.539
we're just finalizing the book cover, but it's just something
625
00:43:35.599 --> 00:43:40.079
many years in the making. aligns directly with this podcast.
626
00:43:40.860 --> 00:43:46.019
And I pray that this even resonates with you or
627
00:43:46.280 --> 00:43:50.769
maybe you're getting goosebumps. Just like, oh, he's got a book. Please, please,
628
00:43:50.809 --> 00:43:53.530
please jump on there and get it. And if you
629
00:43:53.550 --> 00:43:56.710
have any issues, don't forget to reach out to me.
630
00:43:58.389 --> 00:44:00.030
I got a few quotes from the book for you.
631
00:44:01.030 --> 00:44:06.110
Forgiveness is about choosing freedom. Clears the heart, boundaries protect it.
632
00:44:07.099 --> 00:44:09.960
Forgiveness is not denial. It is clarity born from love.
633
00:44:11.980 --> 00:44:17.219
When what blocks love is released, love flows naturally. Forgiveness
634
00:44:17.320 --> 00:44:21.369
opens the door. Compassion keeps it open. I did the
635
00:44:21.409 --> 00:44:23.369
best I could with the awareness I had at the time.
636
00:44:23.409 --> 00:44:26.329
That's a great statement to say to yourself when you're
637
00:44:26.349 --> 00:44:29.510
trying to forgive yourself. Hey, I did the best I
638
00:44:29.550 --> 00:44:31.550
could with the awareness I had at the time. Now
639
00:44:31.590 --> 00:44:35.159
I'm more aware that I'm going to choose differently. I
640
00:44:35.219 --> 00:44:40.510
forgive you my younger, less aware self. Healing cannot take
641
00:44:40.570 --> 00:44:45.559
root in a heart armored by self-condemnation. That is so true.
642
00:44:45.579 --> 00:44:50.980
Look at all that wisdom I imparted in my book. Anyway,
643
00:44:51.940 --> 00:44:53.400
thank you so much for being here with me today.
644
00:44:53.460 --> 00:44:55.460
We're going to wrap up with prayer, and as always,
645
00:44:55.480 --> 00:44:59.650
you can always reach out to me at support at creatingourownlight.com.
646
00:45:00.869 --> 00:45:05.829
I love talking to you all. Like, share the episode, comment,
647
00:45:06.719 --> 00:45:10.500
It's all good. Heavenly Father, open our hearts and our
648
00:45:10.519 --> 00:45:12.659
minds and our beings to all it is today. Let
649
00:45:12.760 --> 00:45:15.280
any of the messages today that resonated with the folks
650
00:45:15.320 --> 00:45:18.960
listening touch their hearts. I'll let them seek you, Lord,
651
00:45:19.039 --> 00:45:23.889
for guidance, for peace, for forgiveness, for sitting with whatever
652
00:45:23.929 --> 00:45:27.989
it is. And I see a big old glorious gift
653
00:45:28.469 --> 00:45:31.389
on the other side of them choosing you and choosing
654
00:45:31.449 --> 00:45:36.030
forgiveness and choosing grace in whatever situation they face. And
655
00:45:36.070 --> 00:45:39.000
let them know that our heart is with them with
656
00:45:39.059 --> 00:45:45.320
whatever they're facing. Our heart, our love, our presence is
657
00:45:45.400 --> 00:45:50.989
deep and profound appreciation for the journey they're on. Thank you, Father,
658
00:45:51.090 --> 00:45:54.190
in your name, in Jesus' name, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
659
00:45:55.010 --> 00:45:56.690
Thank you so much for being here with me today.
660
00:45:56.710 --> 00:46:00.239
I hope you enjoyed episode 23. Join me for the
661
00:46:00.280 --> 00:46:03.920
finale in a couple weeks. We'll be wrapping up. the season.
662
00:46:04.300 --> 00:46:06.750
And then, of course, I'll be talking about season two
663
00:46:06.829 --> 00:46:08.760
on that show. Bless you.
1
00:00:00.030 --> 00:00:02.770
They're meant to heal your family. They're meant to change
2
00:00:02.830 --> 00:00:07.480
generational curses. That's what forgiveness is about. So embrace it.
3
00:00:08.300 --> 00:00:11.130
Seek it. Be patient with it. Love yourself through it.
4
00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:13.839
Let God love you through it. And you're going to
5
00:00:13.859 --> 00:00:18.339
be great. Forgiveness or not forgiving someone is one of
6
00:00:18.420 --> 00:00:22.460
the heaviest burdens to carry. And that impacts not just
7
00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:28.570
your health, your body, your perspective, probably, well, I mean,
8
00:00:28.589 --> 00:00:30.890
it has all kinds of impacts. Everything I've just shared,
9
00:00:30.910 --> 00:00:35.829
it could impact your health. It could impact your places
10
00:00:35.890 --> 00:00:38.390
in your physical body, like tightness in the chest, tightness
11
00:00:38.450 --> 00:00:42.590
in the stomach. And it can also affect your perspective
12
00:00:42.909 --> 00:00:47.179
on others. I could feel the darkness that consumed this person.
13
00:00:47.640 --> 00:00:50.119
And all I could think to myself was, how could
14
00:00:50.140 --> 00:00:53.119
he have gotten so far away from God to not
15
00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:56.700
know that he is loved? And I was so sad
16
00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:58.869
for him. And all I could do was lay there
17
00:00:58.909 --> 00:01:02.070
and pray that some light, some light of God would
18
00:01:02.109 --> 00:01:06.329
break through to that man. Hi, I'm your host, Jeffrey McDonald.
19
00:01:06.390 --> 00:01:12.859
Welcome to Unlocking the Miracles Within. We're here at episode 23,
20
00:01:12.859 --> 00:01:18.680
Forgiveness and Unlocking Inner Peace. He got me today. It's
21
00:01:18.760 --> 00:01:25.629
another solo cast. And it really is because forgiveness is
22
00:01:25.650 --> 00:01:30.829
at the core of my journey. It's really, as I've
23
00:01:30.849 --> 00:01:33.450
shared with you in episode one, it's that moment with
24
00:01:33.530 --> 00:01:39.790
Jesus where I learned how much I was loved, how
25
00:01:39.829 --> 00:01:45.290
much I was not forgiving myself for all of my
26
00:01:45.510 --> 00:01:53.609
mistakes in the past, and holding some energy towards others,
27
00:01:53.849 --> 00:01:57.469
not forgiving others. So there's a lot of phases to forgiveness.
28
00:01:58.269 --> 00:02:04.900
But I fundamentally believe that forgiveness is the pathway to God.
29
00:02:06.459 --> 00:02:07.879
And I think we'll see that when I'm going to
30
00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:11.060
share with you a bit about how Jesus talked about
31
00:02:11.099 --> 00:02:15.159
it in the Bible. Although I would say you don't
32
00:02:15.210 --> 00:02:20.030
have to be religious to forgive. And the impact of
33
00:02:20.090 --> 00:02:26.770
forgiveness is so profound regardless of your belief systems. But
34
00:02:26.830 --> 00:02:29.560
for me, believer in Christ, a follower of Christ, one
35
00:02:29.580 --> 00:02:32.400
who's shared with you in all the shows, I think
36
00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:36.759
Jesus is the perfect model for forgiveness and grace. I
37
00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:41.439
also think grace is very important, so we'll talk about
38
00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:44.879
that too. So I want to start us off with
39
00:02:44.939 --> 00:02:48.389
a prayer of this one because this is very important
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that we connect and open up the right energy for
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this show. So Heavenly Father, Open our hearts, our minds,
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our eyes, and our ears, and all aspects of our bodies,
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where we're not forgiving ourselves, where we're holding judgment against ourselves,
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where we're holding judgment against others, where we need to
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be forgiven, or we need to give forgiveness. Let us
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see that clearly, Lord, and let us see the grace
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and the peace and the doors that open when you
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teach us how to truly forgive as your son Jesus forgave.
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In your name, in your son Jesus' name, in the
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Holy Spirit. Amen. All right. Well, let's get this show
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on the road. Let me talk about first, because it
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seems to be easier for folks to talk about forgiveness
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of others. And now there are different beliefs, different feelings
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around this that To be forgiven or to forgive someone,
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you need to be asked to forgive them. You need
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to be asked by them to forgive them. They need
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to step up to what they've done, how they've wronged you.
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And boy, that would be ideal. But that's not how
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the world works, right? Sometimes you may have wronged someone
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or someone may have wronged you. And you realize it later.
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But you don't have the opportunity. to ask for forgiveness
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from that person. It could be you just are not
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in their universe anymore. They could no longer be on
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this earth. So what's very important there is that forgiveness,
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I do not believe that forgiveness takes you to have
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to go ask for forgiveness to that person, nor does
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it take them having to ask you for forgiveness to
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actually receive forgiveness. I believe the energy of forgiveness and
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grace is more than enough. And I believe our real
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relationship with seeing where we wronged others or seeing where
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we have been wronged is with God and only God, really.
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But as many of you probably know already, or I'm
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going to share with you here, that forgiveness or not
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forgiving someone is one of the heaviest burdens to carry.
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And that impacts not just your health, your body, your perspective. Probably, well,
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I mean, it has all kinds of impacts. Everything I've
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just shared, it can impact your health. It can impact
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your finances. places in your physical body like tightness in
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the chest, tightness in the stomach, and it can also
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affect your perspective on others. Forgiveness doesn't mean that you
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don't hold someone accountable or you forget on what they've done,
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how they've maybe wronged you. Forgiveness is the opportunity to say,
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I don't really know all the reasons behind why I
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was wronged. But for whatever that is, I can forgive you.
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I can still see beyond that. I can love you.
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But that doesn't mean I don't stand there and hold
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boundaries and say, you're not going to do that to
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me again. It doesn't mean you don't say to their face, hey,
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you've wronged me. That's never going to happen again. It
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doesn't mean you don't. defend yourself. It just means you
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don't carry that hate, that anger, that grudge, that angst,
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that judgment towards them for the rest of your life,
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because you're the one lugging around that baggage. So that's
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where grace comes in. Because sometimes, I'd imagine, far beyond
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anything I've ever experienced, the stories we hear of people
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being sexually abused or physically abused by their families, by
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their loved ones. I can't even imagine that I didn't
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carry in this lifetime. And it's got to be one
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of the most difficult things in the world to forgive
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and to give grace for that. That's where God comes in.
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God can show us true forgiveness and true grace. But
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if we know one thing through the Bible, that we're
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all God's children, and we're, you know, as the church
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would say, we're sinners, we're broken. You know, we don't
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always know everything that went into making that human being,
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even someone that's this close to us that may have really,
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truly hurt us. And if we can just give that
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that judgment that fear that anger that angst to God
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and say God listen I know they're your child I
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forgive them I can give them your grace and your
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love what they did was wrong to me and I
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deserve that healing I deserve that first that care that
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love and that grace but I am not going to
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carry the burden of not forgiving them I'm going to
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give that to you And that's where grace steps in.
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You give yourself the grace and you give them the
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grace that you may not know the full picture. What
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if one of the things that God wanted us to learn,
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or we wanted to learn when we came here as
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a soul, of how to fully forgive someone who's wronged us.
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To forgive like God has forgiven us through his son, Jesus.
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What if that was our purpose and we came to
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learn that lesson? And they went to our soon-to-be father
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or soon-to-be mother and said, I need you to be
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the biggest, meanest, abusive person on this earth. I need
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you to do this for me so that Jeffrey learns
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how to forgive. and how to love as I love. And,
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of course, the person stepping up to that mission, that
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angel clothed in demon clothes, if you will, would say, yes, Lord,
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of course. I love Jeffrey so much that I will
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do that. I will be the biggest jerk in this
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lifetime for him so that he can learn this forgiveness.
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I know that's, you know, that's a... made up story,
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but I think where it's valuable is as a framework
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to say, we don't know what God has in store
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for us, but we do have one thing under our
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control is we don't have to carry that judgment and
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that anger and that fear. We're actually not serving ourselves
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by doing that. We are carrying something we shouldn't be
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burdened by. We shouldn't have in our framework. So that's
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when I have, I've had my challenges. Like I said,
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maybe not to the extent of people that have been
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abused in my prayers or with all of you. But
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I've had my challenges of anger and fear and judgment
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towards another. And I've learned, I've worked really hard to
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just forgive. To say, I may not understand everything here,
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and that's okay. I forgive. I don't forgive the actions
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they did against me, but I forgive them. And I
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can have grace. I can understand maybe they were hurting
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or fearful or angry and they acted out of brokenness.
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And what I truly want is for them to be healed.
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I think that's another big statement here is that if
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God's calling us, and I say this, I've said this
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before and I say it all the time, if God's
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calling us to love others, as he loves them, as
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Jesus shared with us, you know, love your neighbor as
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you love thyself. I say love your neighbor as God
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loves them. If God's really calling us to do that,
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that person is loved the same exactly by God. And
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even though God does not condone their actions, that they're
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sinful or they're against another or they didn't love their
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neighbor as they should, That's God's relationship with that person,
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not ours. I know I've had many people in my
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life ask me, you know, how do I apply this?
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And I always say, you know, it really depends. You know,
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putting it into action. And sometimes in a relationship, especially
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in a very close relationship, it's very difficult for you
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to forgive someone truly, truly forgive them and not, you know,
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not forget what they did and then to hold your boundaries.
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I've had couples in marriage relationships ask me, well, you know,
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they did this to me. I can't forgive them, you know,
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cheating on a spouse or those kind of things. And
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that may be true that you can't, you can't, you can't,
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you don't trust them anymore. You can't stay with them.
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That doesn't, that's not forgiveness. Forgiveness is you can love
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them in the perfect version as they are, that God
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loves them. It doesn't mean you have to continue to
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be married to them. It doesn't mean you have to
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stay with them. It takes a really, really strong and
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mature person on both sides of the equation. The one that,
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for example, was unfaithful and to the one that was hurt,
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that was cheated on. To rebuild that trust, and it
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takes real reverence, accountability, acknowledgement, a real yearning to grow
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to the other person to have a high level of
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forgiveness and grace and trust in the other. It can
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work out, but that doesn't mean it has to. It
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doesn't mean you can't make the decision that, well, you
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know what, this is just not going to work for me.
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But that also doesn't mean you have to carry that
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with you for the rest of your life. And it
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doesn't mean that everybody that you'll ever have a relationship
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will do the same thing to you and you have
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to become untrusting of having a significant other or spouse
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or whatever in your life because you fear they're going
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to be unfaithful to you. I hope that makes some
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sense in sharing that here because that's really what I'm
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talking about. There's all different kinds of levels of forgiveness
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and or I'm going to say levels, I would say conditions,
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if you will, where you can choose how to move forward.
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Not one's more right than the other. That comes down
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to actual love for yourself and forgiveness for yourself. Because
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many times when we don't forgive another or we judge another,
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we're not forgiving ourselves. Like, how could this have happened?
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How could I have not been aware of it? Whatever
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that is. That could be even I mean, I've talked
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about some serious things here, but that could be even
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in just a simple relationship, a work relationship. I've had
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work relationships where trust was broken, and in some cases
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I've held on to that judgment, and that festered inside
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of me. It only really resolved when I opened my
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voice and I shared, hey, this is not something I
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want to be part of. This I'm not taking it
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out on that person. I can love and see that
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person for who they are. But I don't deserve to
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be treated like this. I don't deserve to be in
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an environment where I'm not supported. And to have the
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strength to speak up is something I've had to learn
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over many, many years. You know, sometimes I've handled it poorly.
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And sometimes I've handled it very well. Sometimes I've carried
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that longer than I thought I should. And that's because
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I cared about those people. I realize that too. So
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sometimes it's really hard to forgive somebody or something that
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you really, really care about. That's important to you. Somebody
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that violated your moral code, as an example. Those are
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easy to hold on to and to judge on. But
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they do eat away at you personally, so you need
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to learn to let them go. Matthew 18, 21, 22,
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many of you are familiar with this. If not, ask
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Jesus how many times you should forgive. It's not seven times,
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but 77 times. That is basically unlimited forgiveness of someone
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who's wronged you. It's learning how to not carry that
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energy of, like I said, anger, judgment, fear. You're not saying, well,
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you wronged me here. You wronged me two times. I've
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only wronged you once, so you're worse than me. It's
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not layering that. It's saying, okay, you don't act that
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way towards me. I deserve better than that. I forgive you,
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but I can't. do ABC with you because this can't
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be in my world. I don't want this in my
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world anymore. And sometimes people will care about you so
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much and love you so much, they appreciate you speaking up.
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Sometimes it's just a misunderstanding. And sometimes they'll, you know,
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not be so sensitive to that. The second one is
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out of John. Forgiveness, Jesus says, peace... Peace I leave
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with you, my peace I give you. And this one's
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a really important one because forgiveness, I believe, is the core,
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central to peace. The reason we don't have peace is
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because we either can't forgive ourselves or we can't forgive
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our situation or condition. We can't forgive others. We can't
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forgive the world. You know, some people lament in the
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brokenness of the world. So I believe forgiveness is the
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core to that. Ephesians 4, 31, 32. Get rid of
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all bitterness, rage, and anger, forgiving each other just as
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Christ forgave you. Again, just repeating what I've said before
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is you can't carry that anger, that vitriol, that it
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will just eat away at you. I believe disease comes
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from that kind of disconnection. I call it a disconnection
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from God. We feel like we're justified, and we're justified
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in our actions. But that will eat away at you.
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Even if we got revenge, it will eat away at you.
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I don't believe there's a sweet, sweet revenge, as you
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kind of see in movies sometimes. Luke 23, 24, Father,
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forgive them, for they know not what they do. That
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was Jesus on the cross, right? I mean, they're killing
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their Savior. And all of us are responsible for that
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because we'll pretty much in a blink of eye want
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to judge someone and string them up. You see it
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all the time with famous people, right? They stumble, they
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become human, they have a mistake, and then the world
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turns against them. That's the fear, the anger, the lack
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of forgiveness for ourselves that's being projected. out into the
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world to say, oh good, you've got problems too. You're
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worse than me. You're not perfect. We all know that
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social media has increased the pervasiveness of that kind of
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belief that everybody lives in a perfect world. We don't, folks.
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We all have our challenges. We all have our doubts.
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We all hold judgments. We have judgments. Try not to
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hold them, but we have them. And we have fears
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and worries and misunderstandings. That's life. It's messy. So learning
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the art of forgiveness is, to me, it's like the
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most important thing. It's the Jesus walk, right? Jesus walked
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and bared the sins of all of us. And he's
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the ultimate forgiver. But it's our role to learn how
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to walk like him. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
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We're brokenhearted for many, many, many reasons. We're brokenhearted because
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we don't, in many cases, meet people where they're at.
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We don't stop to see them, who they are in
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that moment. We judge on how they interact with us,
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what they share with us, what they do for us,
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what they don't do for us. Do they smile? Do
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they not smile? Do they open the door for us
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or not open the door? We really don't know what's
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going on in their world. They may be the brokenhearted.
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They may need God. And God, His core nature is forgiveness.
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He gave His only Son to die on the cross
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for us. So if we want to walk in that image,
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we need to first step away from our judgment, from
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our expectations, and forgive. I'm talking about the most, the
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hardest thing, which is forgiving ourselves. That is why, I believe,
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the primary reason why we have a hard time seeing
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others for who they truly are and their brokenness, and
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forgiving them. Because we can't forgive those faults, those mistakes,
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those judgments in ourselves. It is one of the hardest
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journeys to go on. So in 2011, when Jesus came
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and said, God loves you as you are today, there's
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nothing you need to change. And the first thing I
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say was, are you sure about that? And as I'm
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laying there crying and all that, and Jesus says, I'll
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love you the same if you choose to lay there
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as if you choose to get up. That's not the world.
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That's God. You know, the world generally kicks you when
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you're down, right? It doesn't tell you you're worthy. You're
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worth it. You, it's your choice. And I realized in
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that moment, like, wow, look at all of this judgment
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that I'm holding against myself, all these expectations of what
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I am, what I should be, how smart I am,
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how much money I should make, how I fit into
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the world, what I am to my wife, what I
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am to my kids, what I am to my friends,
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what I am to my colleagues. What are they going
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to think about me in that particular case? In the
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psych ward, what are they going to think about me now?
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I'm a mess. I'm broken. Well, God came close to
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me because I was brokenhearted, and I needed to learn
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how to love myself. And learning how to love myself
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started with forgiving myself, giving myself grace. like you would
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a child, like a little child. I believe that's why
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my inner child showed up there with Jesus. Because I
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didn't have all those expectations. That weight of the world
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wasn't on me at that age. So we just need
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to stop and listen and say, how would I treat
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myself like I would treat the little version of myself?
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It's easy for me today because of my grandkids. And
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just to love and be patient with them and to
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be present with them And let them make mistakes. You know, let,
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try to do my best not to judge them. I mean, that's,
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that's a gift. That's a blessing. I apply that to myself.
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I try to apply that to myself. And it's gotten
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better and better over time. This wasn't an overnight process
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for me. You could see, oh, this is 15 years
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later and I'm still working on it. So it's a
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lifelong journey, I believe. But I think if you can say,
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you know what? Where in my life have I not
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forgiven myself? I'm going to share a story with you
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that I think might, may or may not help, but
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it'll give you kind of a perspective of how long
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you can hold things that you're just not aware of.
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I knew there was something in my heart that wasn't
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allowing me to open up and receive the love that
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Jesus gave me. And I knew I had available to me.
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I knew I deserved, and so I went to a therapist,
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and we were working. We were actually doing a technique.
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They were a traditional therapist, but they also did tapping,
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and so she did some tapping with me. If you've
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never done tapping, you can check it out. My buddy,
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Dawson Church, was one of the early episodes. He has
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EFT Universe. It's very effective. It was very effective for me.
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But I didn't know what it was. And so we
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kind of opened the doorway to that. And I come
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to find out that I still was holding in my heart,
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which I thought I had gotten by, I just stuffed
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it down really good, my parents' divorce. And at that time,
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I was the age of 10. My mom had my
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dad removed from the house. Now, fortunately, there was no... no...
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nothing visible to us as kids. It was kind of
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came as a shock. I'm sure there were things, but
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we didn't notice it as kids. But one of the
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hardest things was having our father have to leave us.
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And because, you know, we all, we love our parents
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very much, but we were very close to our father.
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And he took us all into a bathroom in the
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house to tell us that he had to pack up
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and leave. It was just all of a sudden, And
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of course, we were all crying. He was crying. And
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when I did this therapy and I went back into
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this moment, I had realized that that little version of me,
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because I'm very, very empathic and I'm very, I'm very
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much a loving person. And I want to be there
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to help others through things. But in that particular situation,
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I took on my father's pain. And I was like,
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if I don't handle this. I'm afraid my father's not
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going to be able to make it. I thought he
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was going to break. And that was a 10-year-old boy.
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And when I came to realize that that 10-year-old boy
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was carrying that burden back then, and I never let
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it go, I was like, wow, little man, you didn't
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understand what was about that relationship, what was right, what
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was wrong, what decisions need to be made. I didn't
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understand any of those perspectives. And from that moment, for
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a long time, I carried a lot of anger towards
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my mother for making that decision and impacting us. And
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that led to some teenage angst years against my mom.
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So when I went through that, after I had my
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2011 episode and I went through that and I realized
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I was still carrying that anger, even though my mom
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and I had Developed a strong relationship. I had learned
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to forgive a lot of that. I still had not
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given that 10-year-old boy in me grace enough to say, hey,
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this is not your emotional burden to carry. You need
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to let go and forgive yourself for trying to do
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something that you were not meant to do. You just
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couldn't do. It's not possible. And Fortunately, through that process,
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it only took two to three sessions, and we were
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able to release that. As a matter of fact, at
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that point, I couldn't even talk about this episode right now.
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Talking very clearly about it was that emotional for me.
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It was trapped in my body. And I was able
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to release that, and that was just so profound. And
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having me open my heart up even more to myself,
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but also to my parents, my mom and dad, who
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I love very much, but I was able to open
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up even more to that. It's just a very simple
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thing where you think, okay, was that really forgiveness? Yeah,
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it was forgiveness. It was forgiveness for that little boy
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trying to be too much. Many of us are in relationships,
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whatever that is, being a parent or a spouse or,
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you know my case a grandparent and we try to
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step into spaces because we love so much we try
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to step into spaces that we're not meant to step
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into and when we realize it like oh wow i
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really can't do anything i can't change this person i
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can't i can't carry they're in they're an adult too
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or Maybe they're just learning how to deal with emotions
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as in a child. I can't fix this for them.
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I just really need to be present for them. I
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don't need to carry it for them. I don't need
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to save them. I just need to be here with
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them and for them and truly love them. And when
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we can forgive maybe us overstepping, in my case as
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a 10-year-old child, or many times I've overstepped in my
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marriage with my beautiful wife, Julie, And if we can't
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stop and go, oh, yeah, I see that. I forgive
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myself for that. And I choose to act a different way. Now,
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as I shared before, not every time you need to,
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you know, run and fall down on your knees. Forgive me,
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forgive me, forgive me. Of course, I tell my wife
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I'm sorry sometimes. But sometimes I just choose to act differently.
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Because it may be something that didn't faze her. I caution...
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folks on not getting caught up into the what was
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me type victimhood where we seek forgiveness just to feel
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better about ourselves. You should talk to, really sit with
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yourself and talk to God about, hey, is this something
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I need to face with this person and ask them
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for forgiveness? Would that serve them their highest good, and
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would that serve my highest good? Would that exactly to
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be what you need me to do, Lord? Or is
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it that I face that behavior and truly conscious of it,
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I'm truly contrite, and I truly ask for forgiveness, like
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a confession? That's why confessions are so effective in the
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Catholic churches, because you're asking, you're speaking out loud what
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you're asking for in your heart for forgiveness for. And
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God forgives you, you know, if you truly, you truly
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see the whole story there. But sometimes we can fall
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into this pattern of, oh, well, forgive me. I'm sorry.
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Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive me because I did this
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and I'm stupid. I'm just this way. That's a good
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sign that you're not really asking for forgiveness. That's just
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who I am. That's how I was raised. I'm OCD.
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Whatever the description and explanation is, when you try to
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explain it away, that's not real forgiveness. Real forgiveness is
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seeing the broader perspective of it, what you need to learn,
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how you can act better, how you choose to act better,
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and whatever that is, the situation that is in that relationship,
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in the world, in the universe, you can truly say, hey,
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that's not the... person in my case that's not the
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man I choose to be I hope that makes sense
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it's really getting yourself out of shame mulling over the
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mistakes using an excuse like well that's just the way
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I am that's the one I hear the most out
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of folks well that's just who I am I just
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am a jerk and I'm going to be a jerk
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and that's not true this is not true you can
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choose to behave differently That's just someone who doesn't want
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to face the shame and the guilt and the fear
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and the anger. Someone who hasn't really forgiven themselves and
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they're justifying their actions. Completely different thing. God forgives you. Jesus,
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serve that purpose. Seek God. Seek that forgiveness first. Understand
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what it is that you want to do. shift, be
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forgiven for, and then choose to act differently. And don't.
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You're going to fall again and again. We're just human.
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We do the same thing. And sometimes I think we
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fall multiple times in kind of a similar area so
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that we can learn the broader impact of it. Sometimes
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we don't see the whole picture. I think that's where
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the seven, 77, not seven times, 77, Jesus shared. Um,
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When I, I've said this before, when I face challenges,
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when I face difficulties, and it really challenges me to forgive,
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I get a little excited about it now that I
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became aware of where I was out of alignment and
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that I have the opportunity to choose a forgiveness, to
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choose forgiving myself or choose forgiving someone else. And I
491
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know in the core that that unlocks something, I don't
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want to say levels me up, so it's like a game.
493
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I get the level two version of Jeffrey, level three
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00:35:00.030 --> 00:35:04.570
version of Jeffrey, but it does. It broadens your compassion.
495
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It broadens your understanding. It broadens your presence. It broadens
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your love, ability to love. Every time you forgive, it
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just takes you to a whole new level. There's so
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00:35:17.780 --> 00:35:20.900
many stories out there of people forgiving things that you
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00:35:20.920 --> 00:35:23.820
can't even imagine them forgiven for, you know, having their
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child killed in a car accident from a drunk driver.
501
00:35:28.250 --> 00:35:30.349
There's just so many stories out in the world. But
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00:35:30.389 --> 00:35:33.969
you see, when they did forgive, how that changed the world.
503
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I remembered one. I don't remember the name of the individual,
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but it was that situation where the mother went into
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prison and forgave the driver. It was a young man
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at the time. And just open up a relationship between
507
00:35:53.199 --> 00:35:56.159
the two of them that you know because he was
508
00:35:56.280 --> 00:36:01.780
really seeking forgiveness and ended up seeking God and seeking
509
00:36:01.820 --> 00:36:06.219
God's forgiveness and she just felt that and that lifted
510
00:36:06.260 --> 00:36:08.289
a weight off of her but he ended up going
511
00:36:08.389 --> 00:36:13.269
out and serving the world and talking about drinking and
512
00:36:13.289 --> 00:36:17.769
driving and getting young people to see what he went
513
00:36:17.789 --> 00:36:19.590
through because he did go to prison and served his
514
00:36:19.630 --> 00:36:24.090
sentence and Obviously, that mother's never going to get their
515
00:36:24.110 --> 00:36:32.380
child back, but she also learned that forgiveness did allow
516
00:36:32.420 --> 00:36:35.380
God to work in that man's heart to serve the
517
00:36:35.420 --> 00:36:38.570
world in much greater ways, and that'll never get her
518
00:36:38.619 --> 00:36:44.530
child back. She can never forget what had happened. It
519
00:36:44.550 --> 00:36:46.869
doesn't mean she wants it to happen again, but she
520
00:36:47.110 --> 00:36:51.719
can forgive him for his grievous errors and bring him
521
00:36:51.760 --> 00:36:57.789
closer to God and her closer to God. Oh, I
522
00:36:57.809 --> 00:36:59.789
think this might wrap it up the best. I've actually
523
00:36:59.869 --> 00:37:02.849
shared this before. This is another story I wanted to share,
524
00:37:04.190 --> 00:37:07.150
but it amazed me, and it was so God. I
525
00:37:07.550 --> 00:37:10.460
was on the road. I was traveling on business, and
526
00:37:10.500 --> 00:37:12.900
I was in my hotel room, and I was watching
527
00:37:12.940 --> 00:37:16.320
the news. It was You can probably figure out the year,
528
00:37:16.360 --> 00:37:18.019
but it was the year where there was the big
529
00:37:18.119 --> 00:37:23.239
Colorado theater shooting. And it just had happened. And I
530
00:37:23.300 --> 00:37:25.530
was watching it and I was very connected to it.
531
00:37:25.559 --> 00:37:29.190
I was emotionally connected to it because it was just
532
00:37:29.210 --> 00:37:32.550
so horrific. Where that young man came in a theater
533
00:37:32.610 --> 00:37:36.090
with his weapon and was just shooting people in the
534
00:37:36.110 --> 00:37:39.219
movie theater as they were trying to, you know, scream
535
00:37:39.260 --> 00:37:42.599
and run out. There was a couple, they were actually
536
00:37:42.639 --> 00:37:44.960
a gay couple, that was sitting close to the front.
537
00:37:46.340 --> 00:37:48.940
And immediately when the shooter walked in, and of course
538
00:37:48.980 --> 00:37:54.239
the panic ensued, they hit the floor and the shots
539
00:37:54.260 --> 00:37:59.000
were ringing out. And his partner and him were both shot.
540
00:38:00.469 --> 00:38:03.230
And he could tell his partner was dead on the
541
00:38:03.269 --> 00:38:06.429
floor next to him. This person he loved and had
542
00:38:06.469 --> 00:38:11.179
a significant relationship with. He was still conscious. And at
543
00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:14.199
that point, they were near the front where the shooter was.
544
00:38:14.239 --> 00:38:17.130
So he had fell and was laying right near the
545
00:38:17.150 --> 00:38:22.289
shooter's feet. And he couldn't move. And the shots continued
546
00:38:22.309 --> 00:38:25.909
to ring out. And the reporter that was interviewing him,
547
00:38:25.929 --> 00:38:29.389
because he had survived the interviewing, he was explaining the story,
548
00:38:29.409 --> 00:38:35.380
asked him, you know, if you could talk to that shooter.
549
00:38:36.380 --> 00:38:38.440
I believe he was killed in that exchange. He was
550
00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:42.320
killed to my killer. He killed himself. If you could
551
00:38:42.340 --> 00:38:45.340
talk to him, what would you tell him? I'm sure
552
00:38:45.409 --> 00:38:49.710
you're angry that you lost your loved one. And he said,
553
00:38:49.730 --> 00:38:51.929
it just brought me to tears. He said, when I
554
00:38:51.969 --> 00:38:53.570
was laying there and I thought I was going to die,
555
00:38:53.590 --> 00:38:56.550
and I saw that my partner had died, and he's crying,
556
00:38:56.590 --> 00:38:59.920
of course, while he's telling this, I could feel the
557
00:38:59.960 --> 00:39:04.699
darkness that consumed this person. And all I could think
558
00:39:04.739 --> 00:39:09.280
to myself was, how could he have gotten so far
559
00:39:09.340 --> 00:39:15.289
away from God to not know that he is loved.
560
00:39:16.110 --> 00:39:19.230
And I was so sad for him. And all I
561
00:39:19.250 --> 00:39:22.510
could do was lay there and pray that some light,
562
00:39:22.750 --> 00:39:25.469
some light of God would break through to that man.
563
00:39:25.489 --> 00:39:28.170
He said, I didn't know if I would survive, but
564
00:39:28.190 --> 00:39:29.969
that's all I could think about. I was just praying.
565
00:39:30.250 --> 00:39:34.210
to God to bring the light to that human being,
566
00:39:34.250 --> 00:39:38.030
and I was so sad for him. And I just
567
00:39:38.159 --> 00:39:43.719
broke down in tears because if that's not forgiveness, if
568
00:39:43.739 --> 00:39:46.079
that's not God working through that man, if that is
569
00:39:46.099 --> 00:39:53.969
not what exactly what this whole show is about. What
570
00:39:54.010 --> 00:39:57.630
is it? This is a man who's just recovering at
571
00:39:57.670 --> 00:40:01.329
the hospital, coming out of bullet wounds. You know, his
572
00:40:01.369 --> 00:40:05.309
near-death experience. And all he could do in this moment
573
00:40:05.349 --> 00:40:09.889
of great panic and all this terror and horror was
574
00:40:09.929 --> 00:40:14.789
think about how far this individual is away from God
575
00:40:14.869 --> 00:40:19.590
and knowing how much they are loved. Anyway, it's a
576
00:40:19.630 --> 00:40:23.530
great story. I just, I'll never forget that. It was
577
00:40:23.730 --> 00:40:29.300
one of the biggest lights on a news interview I've
578
00:40:29.340 --> 00:40:38.920
ever seen. So, you know what? Not my typical hour show,
579
00:40:38.960 --> 00:40:40.679
but I think we did good. We covered a lot
580
00:40:40.719 --> 00:40:46.329
of topics. I hope you found some benefit. I want
581
00:40:46.349 --> 00:40:51.659
to Just share with you a couple tips before I
582
00:40:51.699 --> 00:41:02.269
go on forgiveness. One is if you know, if you
583
00:41:02.389 --> 00:41:04.949
actually have caught the moment where you're not in forgiveness,
584
00:41:06.630 --> 00:41:11.789
don't rush to try to force it. Just stop. Hold yourself.
585
00:41:13.199 --> 00:41:15.400
Love yourself. Take a deep breath. Put your hand on
586
00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:21.760
your heart and just Open up. If you're like me,
587
00:41:21.780 --> 00:41:23.860
open up to prayer to God and say, God, I
588
00:41:23.960 --> 00:41:31.489
see this here. Help hold my hand through forgiving this person,
589
00:41:31.510 --> 00:41:35.170
through forgiving myself. Hold my hand. Be here with me.
590
00:41:35.389 --> 00:41:39.210
No matter how long it takes. Thank you for helping
591
00:41:39.250 --> 00:41:42.989
me be aware of it. But even before that, a
592
00:41:43.090 --> 00:41:44.809
lot of it is that you're not even aware that
593
00:41:44.829 --> 00:41:48.800
you're not like I was with the divorce. I wasn't
594
00:41:48.820 --> 00:41:51.599
even where I was able to hold that energy. So
595
00:41:51.619 --> 00:41:53.480
what did I do in that moment? I just asked.
596
00:41:53.699 --> 00:41:57.519
I asked God, show me. Show me where I'm holding
597
00:41:57.619 --> 00:42:03.210
any anger, fear, judgment against myself or against others. Show me, Lord.
598
00:42:04.570 --> 00:42:06.250
And let me give that to you. Show me how
599
00:42:06.269 --> 00:42:08.010
to give that to you. Show me how to love more.
600
00:42:08.070 --> 00:42:12.289
Show me how to receive love more. So that's important.
601
00:42:12.829 --> 00:42:15.710
You can't deal with something until you're aware of it.
602
00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:19.199
Even have this discussion. You listen to this whole discussion
603
00:42:19.960 --> 00:42:22.480
and you start having dreams and you start having things
604
00:42:22.539 --> 00:42:27.409
come up. Don't ignore them because that's what happens. They
605
00:42:27.449 --> 00:42:29.409
get triggered because they're meant to come up. They're meant
606
00:42:29.449 --> 00:42:32.289
to release. They're meant to heal. Not just you. They're
607
00:42:32.309 --> 00:42:35.309
meant to heal the others involved in this. They're meant
608
00:42:35.349 --> 00:42:38.960
to heal your family. They're meant to change generational curses.
609
00:42:39.000 --> 00:42:43.739
That's what forgiveness is about. So embrace it. Seek it.
610
00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:46.639
Be patient with it. Love yourself through it. Let God
611
00:42:46.699 --> 00:42:49.260
love you through it. And you're going to be great.
612
00:42:49.820 --> 00:42:51.579
I wanted to share with you that my Power of
613
00:42:51.659 --> 00:42:55.260
Prayer book is actually available for pre-order. It will be
614
00:42:55.300 --> 00:42:57.699
launched on June 17th. So if you're listening to this
615
00:42:57.739 --> 00:43:01.929
show and you want to, actually, you can go to
616
00:43:01.969 --> 00:43:10.159
my website, get.powerofprayerbook.com. And if you go there, You can
617
00:43:10.199 --> 00:43:13.760
download the free first chapter, I believe, formally, and allowing
618
00:43:13.780 --> 00:43:15.739
people to tap into the energy to see if it's
619
00:43:15.760 --> 00:43:18.530
for them. You can read the first chapter, and if
620
00:43:18.550 --> 00:43:20.210
you love it, pre-order it, because there's a lot of
621
00:43:20.250 --> 00:43:22.530
special bonuses that come with the pre-order that you're just
622
00:43:22.570 --> 00:43:25.210
not going to get when it gets released on Amazon
623
00:43:25.250 --> 00:43:31.570
or in bookstores. I'm so glad to have it done. Actually,
624
00:43:31.610 --> 00:43:35.539
we're just finalizing the book cover, but it's just something
625
00:43:35.599 --> 00:43:40.079
many years in the making. aligns directly with this podcast.
626
00:43:40.860 --> 00:43:46.019
And I pray that this even resonates with you or
627
00:43:46.280 --> 00:43:50.769
maybe you're getting goosebumps. Just like, oh, he's got a book. Please, please,
628
00:43:50.809 --> 00:43:53.530
please jump on there and get it. And if you
629
00:43:53.550 --> 00:43:56.710
have any issues, don't forget to reach out to me.
630
00:43:58.389 --> 00:44:00.030
I got a few quotes from the book for you.
631
00:44:01.030 --> 00:44:06.110
Forgiveness is about choosing freedom. Clears the heart, boundaries protect it.
632
00:44:07.099 --> 00:44:09.960
Forgiveness is not denial. It is clarity born from love.
633
00:44:11.980 --> 00:44:17.219
When what blocks love is released, love flows naturally. Forgiveness
634
00:44:17.320 --> 00:44:21.369
opens the door. Compassion keeps it open. I did the
635
00:44:21.409 --> 00:44:23.369
best I could with the awareness I had at the time.
636
00:44:23.409 --> 00:44:26.329
That's a great statement to say to yourself when you're
637
00:44:26.349 --> 00:44:29.510
trying to forgive yourself. Hey, I did the best I
638
00:44:29.550 --> 00:44:31.550
could with the awareness I had at the time. Now
639
00:44:31.590 --> 00:44:35.159
I'm more aware that I'm going to choose differently. I
640
00:44:35.219 --> 00:44:40.510
forgive you my younger, less aware self. Healing cannot take
641
00:44:40.570 --> 00:44:45.559
root in a heart armored by self-condemnation. That is so true.
642
00:44:45.579 --> 00:44:50.980
Look at all that wisdom I imparted in my book. Anyway,
643
00:44:51.940 --> 00:44:53.400
thank you so much for being here with me today.
644
00:44:53.460 --> 00:44:55.460
We're going to wrap up with prayer, and as always,
645
00:44:55.480 --> 00:44:59.650
you can always reach out to me at support at creatingourownlight.com.
646
00:45:00.869 --> 00:45:05.829
I love talking to you all. Like, share the episode, comment,
647
00:45:06.719 --> 00:45:10.500
It's all good. Heavenly Father, open our hearts and our
648
00:45:10.519 --> 00:45:12.659
minds and our beings to all it is today. Let
649
00:45:12.760 --> 00:45:15.280
any of the messages today that resonated with the folks
650
00:45:15.320 --> 00:45:18.960
listening touch their hearts. I'll let them seek you, Lord,
651
00:45:19.039 --> 00:45:23.889
for guidance, for peace, for forgiveness, for sitting with whatever
652
00:45:23.929 --> 00:45:27.989
it is. And I see a big old glorious gift
653
00:45:28.469 --> 00:45:31.389
on the other side of them choosing you and choosing
654
00:45:31.449 --> 00:45:36.030
forgiveness and choosing grace in whatever situation they face. And
655
00:45:36.070 --> 00:45:39.000
let them know that our heart is with them with
656
00:45:39.059 --> 00:45:45.320
whatever they're facing. Our heart, our love, our presence is
657
00:45:45.400 --> 00:45:50.989
deep and profound appreciation for the journey they're on. Thank you, Father,
658
00:45:51.090 --> 00:45:54.190
in your name, in Jesus' name, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
659
00:45:55.010 --> 00:45:56.690
Thank you so much for being here with me today.
660
00:45:56.710 --> 00:46:00.239
I hope you enjoyed episode 23. Join me for the
661
00:46:00.280 --> 00:46:03.920
finale in a couple weeks. We'll be wrapping up. the season.
662
00:46:04.300 --> 00:46:06.750
And then, of course, I'll be talking about season two
663
00:46:06.829 --> 00:46:08.760
on that show. Bless you.
