Getting Over It: Letting Go of the Baggage We Carry

Big Idea of the Series: This four-week series uncovers some of the heaviest baggage
we carry and invites us to exchange it for the peace Jesus offers. We learn that our
luggage is often filled with emotions we might be unaware we feel, but God invites us to
release the burdens and trust him to restore our brokenness and help us experience the
freedom he offers.

Week 1
Text: Matthew 18:24–35; Ephesians 4:31–32
Topic(s): Bitterness, Anger, Freedom, Peace
Big Idea of the Message: We are not meant to carry the weight of bitterness and
anger, but we can trade them for freedom and peace.
Application Point: Jesus offers us freedom and peace in exchange for the bitterness
and anger we experience. Identify a person who has hurt you, and set down the
baggage of bitterness by beginning to pray for them—or for God to help you to pray for
them.

Sermon Ideas and Talking Points:

1. While teaching Peter about forgiveness, Jesus told a story of a man who had his
debt forgiven but went on to require those who owed him money to pay him back
immediately. One writer says, “A talent was the largest unit in currency, and ten
thousand was the highest figure used in ancient accounting. The combination
results in such a huge debt that it would have been impossible for the servant
ever to repay it. The comparatively trivial amount owed by the fellow-servant was
one hundred denarii, a denarius being the common silver coin of the day,
equivalent, we are told, to a day[’s] wages for a laborer” (Joseph A. Komonchak,
“How Large the Debts?,” Commonweal Magazine, September 12, 2011,
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/how-large-debts). The lack of mercy
shown to the fellow servant is repugnant and shocking, yet it accurately portrays
what we so often do to one another.
2. Paul, writing to the believers in Ephesus, included “bitterness” in his list of actions
that needed to be avoided by the church. The word for bitterness is pikria, which
means “extreme wickedness,” “a bitter root, and so producing a bitter fruit,” and
“bitter hatred” (Outline of Biblical Usage, s.v. “G4088, pikria”
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4088&t=ESV).
3. Bitterness does not begin as bitterness. It begins with unforgiven pain. “Our lack
of forgiveness is why we choose to hold onto bitterness, letting it ripen into full
grown resentment. While it looks like we are unable to forgive, sometimes we
need to face that we are unwilling” (Anne Peterson, “How to Deal with Bitterness
and Resentment,” Christian Bible Studies, March 15, 2019,
https://www.christianitytoday.com/biblestudies/articles/spiritualformation/bitternes
s-resentment.html).
4. Carrying the heavy weight of bitterness and resentment can cause physical
problems and lead to strain, even in relationships other than the one causing
pain, according to the Mayo Clinic (“Forgiveness: Letting Go of Grudges and
Bitterness,” Mayo Clinic, November 13, 2020,
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/forgiveness/art-
20047692).
5. A survivor of a concentration camp during the Holocaust, Corrie ten Boom
dedicated her life to traveling and preaching about forgiveness. She told the
stories of losing her family members in the war and how she had to release the
bitterness and anger toward those who harmed them. She is quoted as saying,
“There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still,” and “God will give us
the love to be able to forgive our enemies” (“The Ten Boom Family,” Ten Boom
Museum, accessed January 4, 2021, https://www.tenboom.org/about-the-ten-
booms/). Later in life, Corrie met one of the concentration camp guards when he
attended one of her meetings. After initially struggling, she graciously forgave,
embraced, and wept with him. “‘I forgive you, brother!’ I cried. ‘With all my heart.’
For a long moment we grasped each other’s hands, the former guard and the
former prisoner. I had never known God’s love so intensely, as I did then. But
even so, I realized it was not my love. I had tried, and did not have the power. It
was the power of the Holy Spirit” (Corrie ten Boom, Tramp for the Lord, with
Jamie Buckingham [New York: Jove Books, 1978], 55).
6. The International Civil Aviation Organization is a group of engineers who
determine how much cargo is safe for domestic and international flights.
Obviously, this is necessary for safety in flight, but consider the emotional
baggage we willingly carry around with us every day. How are our invisible
burdens weighing us down in our journey? Suitcases, trunks, backpacks, and
other luggage would make good visual aids for this illustration.
7. Knowing we have been commanded to forgive is one thing. But finding the
courage to do it is another. The strength to forgive comes from God and grows
when we begin to pray for the person. This can be practiced by simply including
the person on your prayer list, or perhaps including yourself in your requests to
God, asking him to give you the courage and strength to begin to pray for that
person. You will find that God provides the strength for you to pray for them, bit
by bit. Then you will find yourself willing to pray for them and even to pray
 blessings upon them. As you spend time covering them in prayer, you’ll be able
to forgive and to release the bitterness to which you are tightly clinging.
8. Bitterness and anger stick around when we can’t forgive, yet we need to be
mindful of listeners who may have experienced trauma and need extensive
prayer and counsel from a professional. Being told to forgive someone who has
violated us can be scary—and if handled wrongly, can put a person in a place of
danger. Tread lightly. Give grace. God is tender with the broken and abused. He
calls us to forgiveness but also to set loving boundaries.

Week 2
Text: Mark 10:17–25; Proverbs 16:18
Topic(s): Pride, Reputation
Big Idea of the Message: Pride grows because we crave independence and self-
sufficiency, yet we are called to depend on God in humility.
Application Point: Be your real self with God and others. Set down the baggage of
pride this week through a hard conversation or an honest prayer.

Sermon Ideas and Talking Points:

1. Proverbs 16:18 is direct juxtaposition of Proverbs 15:33. “Haughtiness and pride

imply self-confidence which produces carelessness, and hence ‘a fall’—literally,
‘sliding,’” compared to the instruction of wisdom and humility coming before
honor (A. R. Fausset, commentary on Proverbs 16, A Commentary Critical and
Explanatory on the Whole Bible,
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/jfb/Pro/Pro_016.cfm?a=644018). The word
used for pride is ga’own and means “arrogancy, excellency, majesty, pomp, …
swelling” (Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon, s.v. “H1347, ga’own,”
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H1347&t=ESV).
2. The rich man ran to Jesus, knelt before him, and addressed him as a great
teacher. The man was respectful, and it seems he honestly wanted to learn.
When speaking with the rich man, Jesus explained that he needed to sell all he
owned and give the earnings to the poor in order to be saved. Jesus wasn’t
saying that money or possessions are necessarily evil, but this man had been a
strict rule follower (vv. 19–20) yet was finding his security in his wealth. In his
conversation with Jesus, he found something he couldn’t buy with money. The
man left in sorrow. We don’t know if he eventually decided to liquidate his assets,
but we do know that he deeply loved his possessions and felt the weight of the
decisions Jesus set before him. After the man went away, Jesus turned to the
disciples and reframed the scenario as a discipleship lesson. He said, “It is easier
for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the
kingdom of God” (v. 25). Matthew Henry gives two explanations for what Jesus
meant. Perhaps “there might be some wicket-gate, or door, to Jerusalem,
commonly known by the name of the needle’s eye, for its straitness, through
which a camel could not be got unless he were unloaded, and made to kneel. …
So a rich man cannot get to heaven unless he is willing to part with the burthen of
his worldly wealth, and stoop to the duties of a humble religion, and so enter at
 the strait gate. Others suggest that the word we translate a camel, sometimes
signifies a cable-rope, which, though not to be got through a needle’s eye, yet is
of great affinity to it. A rich man, compared with the poor, is as a cable to a single
thread, stronger, but not so pliable, and it will not go through the needle’s eye,
unless it be untwisted” (Matthew Henry, commentary on Mark 10,
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Mar/Mar_010.cfm?a=967017).
3. Pride is often the hidden sin, one that is a little more acceptable for Christians to
carry around in their luggage. People who refuse to let others know they aren’t
perfect, who hide their sin, who decline to make a change in their lifestyle
because they won’t admit sin, or who so highly prioritize their reputation are often
carrying the bag labeled “pride.” Tim Elmore writes about pride and “image
management”: “Over the years, I have decided to ditch working on my
‘reputation’ and work on my ‘reality.’ In other words, my integrity is the key to
solidify how others view me. Remember, the term ‘integrity’ simply means ‘one’
or ‘whole.’ In math, an integer is a single digit. When I have integrity it doesn’t
mean I’m a perfect leader. It means what I say and what I do are the same. I am
transparent about who I am. It’s the opposite of hypocrisy. As I work on my
character my reputation takes care of itself, because I am not pretending to be
anyone other than who I really am” (Tim Elmore, “The One Thing That’s More
Important than Your Reputation,” Growing Leaders, August 10, 2017,
https://growingleaders.com/blog/one-thing-thats-more-important-than-
reputation/).
4. Thru-hikers focus on and spend lots of money on packing low-weight items in
their packs. The goal weight is twenty pounds of items to last them the length of
their hike (compare that to the fifty-pound suitcase for a week-long trip). Hikers
know they will be carrying the weight of everything they’ll need (stove, tent, first
aid, food, water filtration, extra socks, fire starter, and so on) and ruthlessly fight
to select only the most lightweight, multipurpose, and essential items in their
pack (Mariposa, “The Top Backpacks on the Appalachian Trail: 2016 AT Thru-
Hiker Survey,” The Trek, November 10, 2016, https://thetrek.co/appalachian-
trail/the-top-backpacks-on-the-appalachian-trail-2016-at-thru-hiker-survey/). We
should take this approach when considering the invisible weight we are willingly
carrying in our emotional baggage. What can we get rid of? What isn’t essential?
What will promote or protect our health on our journey? What has been proven
true and helpful for those who have hiked this journey before us?
5. Another descriptor for pride is “stiff-necked,” meaning stubborn, uncompromising,
or unwilling to do what someone else wants. It’s the perfect description of a
young toddler who doesn’t want to give up the toy that doesn’t belong to her or to
obey whoever is speaking to her. Anyone who has spent time with children has
seen the stiffening of the spine and neck, sometimes crossing their arms, and the
turning away of their body and face. They literally turn away from what should
have their attention. Sadly, too many adults haven’t matured much beyond this
stage.
6. Set down the pride in your baggage. Be your real self with God and others.
Release pride this week through a hard conversation or an honest prayer.
Week 3
Text: Psalm 23:1–6; 139:7–12; Philippians 4:6–7
Topic(s): Fear, Scarcity, Abundance
Big Idea of the Message: Fear grows when we feel our inabilities or are anxious about
the unknown, but God has promised to protect us and to walk with us through danger.
Application Point: In a fearful situation you are facing right now, put down the baggage
of fear and trust God to be the Good Shepherd as he leads, protects, provides, and
comforts you.

Sermon Ideas and Talking Points:

1. The Chapman Survey researches fear in America. Their most recent research
shows that Americans are becoming progressively more afraid. The top three
fears in 2019 were corrupt government officials, pollution of bodies of water, and
loved ones becoming seriously ill. You can read more about the 2019 study here:
https://www.chapman.edu/wilkinson/research-centers/babbie-
center/_files/americas-top-fears-2019.pdf.
2. Our familiarity with Psalm 23 may cause us to feel like it’s too cliché to withstand
the weight of the burdens we face. We see it printed everywhere, yet we fail to
apply it to our fears. God promises his presence, strength, protection, generosity,
abundance, provision, blessing, safety, and mercy all within the words of this one
psalm. To be in the valley of the shadow of death implies that death is not only
standing near but is also in between us and our source of light. However, the
Good Shepherd leads us through the danger.
3. When facing fear, we can also remember the promises found in Psalm 139.
There are no places we can go in which God’s presence isn’t already found. We
will also be found by him and we can trust that his right hand will guard and
protect us (v. 10). According to Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon, the right hand was
believed to be stronger and more dexterous than the left (Strong’s Hebrew
Lexicon, s.v. “H3224, yamiyn,”
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H3225&t=ESV).
We have God’s best on our side. Fear can flee when he is near.
4. Writing to the church in Philippi, Paul encourages the believers not to succumb to
fear. Rather, they are to give their burdens or anxious thoughts to God in
exchange for his perfect peace (4:6–7). These young believers didn’t have the
discipleship materials, church culture, or benefit of multiple generations of
believers in their daily lives, so Paul’s encouraging words might have been the
first they had heard about trading anxiety for peace. Imagine what that would be
like.
5. Sometime traveling means experiencing the unfamiliar, and it can bring up big
feelings, such as worries about having a bad experience, and a whole collection
of possible fears: flying, getting injured abroad, language barriers, unknown
foods, climbing to the top of the highest waterslide in the park, swimming with
dangerous fish, being attacked by a wild animal when camping, or getting
robbed. These fears can suck the joy out of traveling, but there are fears we
carry everyday that are burdensome too, such as the fear of failing, fear of dying,
 fear of the future, fear of repeating the past, fear of particular people, fear of not
having enough. Sometimes our actions or behaviors act as a mask to cover what
we truly fear. Wise people work to identify their fears so they can process them
and live with more trust of God.
6. Michael Hyatt phrased his two ways of thinking as scarcity versus abundance.
Scarcity thinking is based off fear or lack, while abundance thrives in generosity,
growth, and potential opportunities (Michael Hyatt, “The High Cost of
Shortsighted Frugality,” Michael Hyatt & Co., July 27, 2016,
https://michaelhyatt.com/frugality-costs/). If we begin to process our fears
through the filter of scarcity and abundance, maybe it will be easier to let go of
the baggage of fear.
7. Dallas Willard wrote, “A life without lack is one that carries no fear of evil. Our
confidence in God soars far above wants and fears. … Jesus was constantly
saying to his friends, ‘Fear not! Fear not!’ Imagine what that would be like. No
fear of life, aging or death, disease or hunger, no fear of any person or creature,
not even the loss of all your possessions. You can live without fear even in the
midst of a world dominated by fear” (Dallas Willard, Life without Lack: Living in
the Fullness of Psalm 23 [Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2018], xvii).
8. Aundi Kolber, a licensed Christian counselor, wrote a love letter to fear, thanking
it for pushing her toward protection in unsafe situations but kindly asking it to give
her space to grow, thrive. and enjoy life’s beautiful moments (“A Love Letter to
Fear” [blog], May 2, 2019, https://aundikolber.com/2019-5-2-a-love-letter-to-
fear/). In a fearful situation you are facing right now, put down the baggage of
fear and trust God to be the Good Shepherd as he leads, protects, provides, and
comforts you.
Week 4
Text: Genesis 37:3–11; 1 Corinthians 13:4
Topic(s): Jealousy, Envy, Comparison
Big Idea of the Message: Jealousy ruins relationships, but Jesus offers restoration
when we leave the heavy baggage of envy at his feet.
Application Point: Think of one person you find yourself jealous of. Pray for them, and
see yourself as a valuable, unique, and necessary part of the body of Christ.

Sermon Ideas and Talking Points:

1. The Old Testament account of Joseph and his brothers is one of the clearest
examples of jealousy in the Bible. Joseph’s father, Jacob, loved him more than
any of his other sons because Joseph was born in Jacob’s old age to his favorite
wife. Joseph’s father made an ornate robe for him, likely by “sewing patches of
colored cloth”; it would have been “considered a dress of distinction.” Joseph’s
father’s favoritism, when added to Joseph’s foolish choice to share self-
aggrandizing dreams at inappropriate times and his assigned duty of reporting
back to his father regarding his brother’s “scandalous conduct,” caused such
jealousy and hate that his brothers could not even speak to him kindly (v. 4)
(Robert Jamieson, commentary on Genesis 37, A Commentary Critical and
Explanatory on the Whole Bible,
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/jfb/Gen/Gen_037.cfm?a=37003). Enmity
only grew stronger. Jealousy had taken root.
2. Paul’s words to the people of Corinth are culture-shifting. Describing the
characteristics of love, Paul says that love does not envy or boast. He uses the
word zēloō, which means “to burn with zeal, to be heated or to boil with envy,
hatred, anger” (Outline of Biblical Usage, s.v., “G2206, zēloō,”
https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2206&t=ESV).
Matthew Henry observes that the Corinthian culture was wealthy, “lewd,” “noted
for fornication,” and its people were known to “indulge whorish inclinations”
(Matthew Henry, introduction to 1 Corinthians,
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/1Cr/1Cr_000.cfm?a=1075004). The
Corinthian church was situated among this culture and, unsurprisingly, suffered
from negative outside influences. Henry says, “He wrote this epistle to them, to
water what he had planted and rectify some gross disorders which during his
absence had been introduced” from a number of influences. Paul needed to set
things straight and remind the believers how they were to act in relationship to
the people outside the church and those within their body.
3. “Crab bucket syndrome,” or “crab mentality,” is observed when crabs struggle to
get out of a bucket but are pulled back down by the others below. It is said to be
an image of what people do to one another out of jealousy, self-preservation, or
herd mentality. Of course, crabs are just doing what they are designed to do: to
reach for, grab, and pull themselves around on the objects surrounding them.
However, we can see this happening in our society as well. People aren’t
naturally supportive of those succeeding or living a radically different lifestyle
than the norm. Omar Itani writes that the crab mentality says, “If I can’t have it,
 neither can you.” He adds, “Here’s what you and I need to realize: Sometimes,
we’re the victims of the crab effect, and sometimes we’re the instigators of it.
Sometimes, you’re the one being pulled down, and sometimes you’re the one
doing the pulling” (Omar Itani, “Beware of ‘the Crab Mentality’: How Your
Environment Shapes the Way You Think and Behave,” Curious, October 23,
2020, https://medium.com/curious/beware-of-the-crab-mentality-how-your-
environment-shapes-the-way-you-think-and-behave-4d46a15307ab). The Bible
calls us to not play the childish games of jealousy; rather, we are to love those
around us.
4. Jealousy can be experienced in any stage of life—certainly in childhood. Can you
remember which lunch box you wanted in elementary school? Everyone had the
Superman or Wonder Woman lunch box, and you needed one too! Then it was
the style of prom dress or first car that needed to be like everyone else’s. In
adulthood, jealousy is no less a struggle. We watch people line up for hours
before a new iPhone is released, go in debt to purchase the latest car, or spend
fortunes on maintaining the perfect lawn. The desire to be as good as the next
guy, or better than all the others, is a very heavy piece of baggage that Christ
offers to carry for us, exchanging it for his perfect peace. Americans soothe
jealousy’s sting by accumulating material goods, often going into debt to prove
their worth. This commercial is a light-hearted poke at that tendency:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFMwYNX5qUk.
5. To reduce jealousy, the best practice is to develop the habit of praying for those
who make you jealous. At first, it might be a struggle to do. In fact, it might feel
impossible. But over time, the practice becomes a habit, and the habit just might
turn into a friendship or positive experience. “Do it for them, because everyone
needs a friend. Do it for yourself, because that ‘everyone’ includes you. Rather
than all struggling alone with loneliness and misunderstanding, weakened by our
efforts, can we humble ourselves and seek to affirm and learn from one
another?” (Jo Saxton, “No More Frenemies in Ministry,” Womenleaders.com,
February 27, 2017, https://www.christianitytoday.com/women-
leaders/2017/february/no-more-frenemies-in-ministry.html?paging=off).

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®
(ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.

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