Travel the Long Road to Forgiveness

LAST WEEK'S CHALLENGE

Last Wednesday, I attempted to cultivate your ability to be the boss. I asked you to spend the day being purposefully bossy. I even offered you some ideas to help you to execute a plan for showing off your bossy self. I wonder how you approached this challenge and what your outcome was. Did you experience a side of yourself you didn’t know was there? Was the recipient of your bossy-ness surprised, appreciative, or inspired by your gesture? After having spent your day being purposefully bossy, are you now more intent on walking into the fullness of the boss you were created to be?  

My bossy-ness went a little something like this:   I conducted research in preparation of making a deal on a few necessary products. Long story short, I purchased $166.11 worth of materials for the low price of $32.67, and none of the items were for me. Now, that's what bosses do! They never spend more than they have to for products and services because they understand that quality matters most, not quantity (or should I say, price). Bosses use their resources in a manner that allows them to give the most and best gifts possible to others.

THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE

Have you ever stood in the middle of a lonely road and wondered what places it might lead you to? Did you venture further and find out, did you just stand there wondering if you should, or did you turn around and return from whence you had come?

As we change our focus this week to concentrate on practical financial concepts, strategies, and actions, today's post is inspired by the work and ministry of Priscilla Shirer who is the founder of Going Beyond Ministries, and who has written a book entitled, The Resolution for Women. In this book, Priscilla offers 13 resolutions for women to consider making with God in order to experience life in the fulness of God's plans and purposes for them. One of the resolutions challenges readers to "release others from the prison of my hurt and anger"....to release internal injuries, to delete the grudges we hold against others, and to ask for and accept the fulness of God's forgiveness so that our lives no longer keep circling. About unforgiveness she writes, "It sits on you, weighing you down, restricting you from enjoying the new spaces and phases and freedoms that each season of life brings you. It fits you with blinders, keeping you from seeing anything other than the offense done against you, making it hard to view anything in your life except through its lens." 

Therefore, today I ’d like to invite you to include forgiveness in your financial planning. This week, I want you to travel the long road to forgiveness. “Why forgiveness,” you might be asking. Well, the same way unforgiveness and bitterness limit our lives and ability to recover from the damage done in relationships, the same is true as it relates to obtaining or maintaining a financially sound mind.

Have you forgiven your creditors? You know, the ones who sold you a deal that didn’t reveal the fine print until after you were locked into a contract. Have you forgiven the banks and lending institutions that continue to increase the terms and interest rates on your loan balances? Have you forgiven the insurance company that cheated you by giving you less than the fair market value of your vehicle when it was totaled in that accident? Have you forgiven the creditors who were unwilling to work with you when you lost your job, or the friends who wouldn’t loan you money when you experienced a financial emergency?

So often, we focus our financial attention on accepting responsibility for our immature financial decisions and the consequences we must face for making them, and well we should. Believe me, I’ve had to take a big girl pill (as Niecy Nash would say) a time or two in my life. I’ve had to accept the truth that I created many of my own financial dilemmas by failing to give more thorough thought to purchases that were going to require a much more extensive financial commitment than I wanted. No doubt, it is crucial to own up to our own failings. However, today I want to talk to you about the other side of this debt issue. I want to challenge you to release the pain and bitterness associated with a deal gone bad. 

Even if you knew what you were doing at the time, you still might be wrestling with ill feelings towards the creditor who issued your loan or the representatives who keep calling you from the collection agency. These are people who need your forgiveness. These are people who you need to forgive, not for their sakes but for your sake. You need to forgive them because all of the energy you have used to remain angry and victimized by your debt has placed your life and potential on pause. The more time and energy you spend resenting your high interest debt or having had to foreclose on your house, the less time and energy you have to devote yourself to financial progression. Trust me, I’ve had my fair share of bad experiences with creditors. Likewise, I’ve been stuck in the muck of unforgiveness, unable to get on with my financial life because I was completely invested in holding grudges.

Today, I want you to let go of the past. Maybe you haven’t paid off the debt that seems to cause you the most distress. Perhaps you have a few more years before you think you’ll even have put a dent in that credit card balance. It’s possible that you have become accustom to making regular payments on your debts but you have also become accustom to swelling with bitterness as you make each payment. Today, I just want you to shift your perspective. 

Change your mind about the toll your debt and creditors should take on your spiritual, physical, and financial health. You don’t have to pick up the phone and call your creditors, but I am urging you to release the gift of forgiveness into the atmosphere. Ask God to help you to forgive those who you seem unable to even conceive releasing from anger. Remember, attaining freedom requires slow, steady, forward movements. Your past is behind you and your emotional ties to your negative experiences should be as well. Why not let them go and press into your financial future with a renewed mind and a forgiving heart?