Somebody hurt you a year ago, 10 years ago, a lifetime ago, and somehow deep down inside you

can’t
shake it. Sometimes you say it never happened but you know deep down inside it did happen. So you try
to deny it and that doesn't work. You suppress it and somehow it keeps popping out and sometimes it
pops out in an embarrassing fashion. You know that deep down inside something happened back then
that you can really identify them, that you can point your finger to the person.

And what seemingly was merely a little hurt in the beginning, somehow has solidified like concrete in
your mind, it's just there, it lays there, it hangs there, the burden of it is there, you'd like to shake it,
you’d like to get rid of it, but somehow you just can't do it. You got hurt so badly that somehow you feel
like, I will never be able to overcome this. Well, I want to tell you, my friend, yes you can because you
see if you don't overcome the hurts of the past, what you’ll find out is this, those hurts can do great
great harm to your life. So what we have to do is we have to decide how we are going to handle this
hurt. Am I going to handle this hurt in such a way that it harms me in every aspect of my life? Or am I
going to learn how to handle this hurt in such a fashion that I can take it and I can handle it properly and
be able to learn something from it glean something from it, grow up as a result of it and not allow it to
hurt me, because God does not want us to respond to hurts in such a fashion that we are devastated in
our life, lose our witnessing and our testimony (of God), go through life bearing some kind of emotional
baggage that we are never able to escape.

Let's define what forgiveness is not. Forgiveness is not justifying the other person's actions. Forgiveness
is not forgetting it. It is not denying it, it is not excusing what that person has done to you.

You see if I forgive someone, here’s what I've done, I've said I deliberately and willfully lay down, put
aside this debt that you owe me as a result of somehow the way you hurt me and so I’m going to lay it
aside. I put it down, no longer hold it against them anymore. Now does that mean that the everything is
absolutely correct between us, not necessarily because you see, listen carefully, you and I are not
responsible for someone's response to our forgiveness. You may be forgiving. God may heal you but the
other person who did something to you may not ever be healed. They might not be interested in
healing. Their malice is just as strong today as it was yesterday. And so therefore they may never
change, but you know what? You and I are responsible for changing no matter what the other person
does. We are not responsible for another person's actions. They are responsible for their own
responses. They give an account to God for their own responses and then accept the forgiveness that
you have given to the other person as done. And my friend from that moment on, the healing process
will begin to take place in your life and what was harming you and hurting you far more deeper than you
realize, the healing process will begin to take place and God will set you free.

You know sometimes we think that we're actually hurting the person who hurt us by holding on to the
hurt and holding a grudge. That somehow me being mad, long after the event happened, that that's
somehow making you miserable. All right, it's like drinking poison and hoping you kill them with it.
You're only hurting yourself with your anger. Let me ask you this, is it worth it? Is it worth it holding on
to that grudge, is it worth it being bitter? Bitterness is not worth it. Resentment is not worth it. The price
is too high. You need to not go one more second without dealing with it right now. How do I let go of a
hurt that I don't want to let go of? What do I do with my hurt?

First thing, number one, give it to God. Give it to God, let him handle it. Unload it on the Lord. Well you
say it like this, God this hurt is too heavy for me to carry and I'm not smart enough to know what's the
right thing to do about it, and I'll probably make a mess of it, so father I'm giving you this hurt. That
person hurt me and I would like for you to handle it. It's now out of my hands, I wash my hands of it, it’s
in your hands. That's what you say when you give it to God. Who can handle it better, you or God?
Never avenge yourselves, leave it to God.

There's evidence in scripture and evidence from looking at other people's lives that no matter what kind
of a past you have, you still have a great future out in front of you but you must let go of the past and
for some people that means forgiving someone else, for some people it may mean forgiving yourself or
actually receiving the forgiveness of God. So many people are mad at themselves and they won't forgive
themselves for mistakes that they've made and things that they've done and honestly and truly until you
let go of the past? You really cannot take hold of the future that God has for you.