Letting Go

It has been nearly two years since I have stood at the pulpit and proclaimed my faith. I spoke to my Savior in front of my family, friends, and congregation and let everyone know that I was reaching out to my Lord and Savior for guidance in my life. But now that all of this time has past and the exhilaration which comes from the first months of the new life has been diminished, I feel as if my purpose still remains as strong as those first moments.

Having said this, I must confess that, although my faith remains strong, I still find myself participating in thoughts and actions which do not befit a self-proclaimed Christian. I often find myself in a negative attitude toward others. And of course, I clearly see the faults of others without even taking a glimpse of mine own. The hypocrisy does eventually and stridently pierce my dense cranium after a non-specific length of time, however. When I am shown the error of my ways, I am usually the first to berate myself for being an imbecile.

I believe that one of the most adverse aspects of my sins is the inability to forgive and forget transgressions and injustices that have been done to me. I may not be as guilty of this as I have in the past, but I am guilty nonetheless. When I have the perception of being wronged, my first impulse is typically a tremendous feeling of betrayal, followed closely by anger. Understanding and acceptance usually comes a day or two later. So why am I announcing all of this? Simple. Lately, especially in the church in which I worship, I have seen these same traits in others.

I am shocked to see such behavior! Okay, okay, maybe I am not, but I do find it interesting to see the adversity or lack thereof in fellow church members to face criticism and tribulations with the same selfishness as I have displayed. Maybe I expect too much from my fellow believers. We as Christians must train ourselves to turn the other cheek when people do something to us which we believe to be hostile or derogatory. We must be strong in our faith so that we may lean on the Lord when necessary. Instead, what I see is people having their feelings hurt and lashing out to one another. Unfortunately, the dissension does not end there. Harsh feelings remain and animosity grows. Soon, the entire situation becomes unbearable and people find themselves in a fight or flight scenario.

The inability to let go of grievances is discouraging. Weekly, in our Sunday morning worship service, we proclaim that, "We are a caring congregation...." To be honest, I see little proof of this statement. Saying that this is sad is an understatement. We have people who claim to be Christians, but from the outside looking in, it appears otherwise.

Quite often, I like to find fault in myself for corrective purposes. On this occasion, I will be more inclusive when obsverving a club of sinners. It makes sense that if you truly want to be forgiven of your sins, you must at least attempt to forgive others for theirs. I use Matthew 6:14 a lot as an example of forgiveness, and will do so yet again.

We all have the tendency to be self-absorbed, without a care for the next person's feelings. After all, everyone else is simply dumb. Right? I mean who cares what they think? It's clear they don't know what they are talking about. All they need to do is listen to the words which roll from the tongue that is tied to the most brilliant mind that God gave mankind and fortunately that mind belongs to moi. Because, of course, I know everything. Uh hem...I guess that is one approach, but I do not believe it is the right approach. Let us try this once again.


I honestly believe God talks to each of us. Albeit, He may not do so through a burning bush, but He speaks to us nonetheless. Some people may call it a conscience, but I know that the little voice in our head, is simply God telling us to quit being self-serving. We should not let our sinning nature take control of us. We must learn that there will always be obstacles in life, either physical or personal. Regardless of which, we shoud be willing to forgive. We should reach out to those who hurt us and those of whom we hurt and try to come to an amicable disagreement. There is so much hurt in this world that it is troubling to see how we can hold on to such miniscule wrongs. Let them go and let peace in. Forgive and you will be forgiven.

May God watch over and protect your family this Thanksgiving.

-Brian D. Moore