Mind of Christ: Ep 6: Forgiveness: Freeing Your Heart to Walk in the Mind of Christ

0:12 Welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast with your host, Connie Morris, where healing has a voice and truth is no longer silent. Father God, like Jabez, we cry out that thou would bless us indeed. Bless every woman listening beyond trauma, beyond limits, beyond what she thought was possible. Enlarge her territory. Expand her purpose. Let your hand be upon this moment. Saturate every word with oil and truth. break cycles, cancel every curse sent to silence her. This isn't just a podcast. This is holy ground. In Jesus' name, amen.

0:53 Hello, and welcome back to Diary of a Black Woman podcast. I'm your host, Connie Morris, and we're going to continue our series, Faith on the Go series. Today's title is Forgiveness. We have been learning that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. This is why this space was created, for your quiet moments, for your work days, for your commutes, and for those in-between places where you just need to be refilled and recharged. Faith on the go is for the times where you're fighting battles not yet won, but already finished in Christ. It's for the ones who keep believing, keep pressing, and keep walking, even when the road gets long and narrow.

1:35 So wherever you are today, settle in, let the word of God strengthen you and strengthen your faith while you are on the go. Six, a mind of forgiveness, free from offense. Today's key scripture is found in Luke 23, 24. It reads, Jesus said, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do. Are doing. Seeing through Jesus' eyes, as the nails pierced his hands and the crowd mocked his name, Jesus did something unthinkable. He prayed for his enemies. He didn't curse them, call for angels, or demand justice. Instead, with love bleeding through pain, he whispered, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.

2:23 Luke 23, verse 34. In that moment, forgiveness was no longer an idea. It was incarnate. Between heaven and earth, Jesus refused to let bitterness be the last word. Even before the cross, gibness marked his ministry. He forgave the paralyzed man before healing his body, Mark 2, 5. He forgave the woman calling adultery, saying, Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more, John 8, 11. He restored Peter, who denied him three times with three words of grace. Feed my sheep, John 21, 17.

3:03 Forgiveness was not weakness. It was strength surrendered. It was the weapon that defeated shame and the bridge that reconciled humanity to God. The mind of Christ cannot coexist with unforgiveness. Bitterness clouds discernment, poisons peace, and stifles prayer. Forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting what happened. It means releasing the right to revenge. Jesus taught his truth boldly. If you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you. Matthew 6, 14. Forgiveness is not about fairness. It's about freedom.

3:44 When you hold on to offense, you relive the wound over and over. When you release it, you let God heal what your heart cannot. Forgiveness doesn't make them right. It makes you whole. To forgive as Jesus forgave means to love beyond logic. It means choosing mercy when you have every reason to hold on to pain. It means remembering how much you've been forgiven. So I want you to ask yourself, who am I still holding hostage in my heart? Am I waiting for apology that may never come. Do I trust God enough to release what he's already redeemed? You cannot think like Christ and live offended.

4:26 Forgiveness unclose the flow. Forgiveness is the flow of grace in your life. It opened doors for peace, clarity, and healing to return. The part I want to pause for is who are you holding hostage in your heart? And this goes back to, you know, we grow up and we learn to forgive and not forget, right? We forgive and not forget. God asking us not to really forget, but to let them free so that you can be healed. You know, that could be something that may have happened to you when you were younger. It could be something happened in your childhood. It could be something that happened recently, a divorce.

5:09 Maybe someone had an affair on you or committed adultery. Something that may have caused you to say words like, I would never forgive you. And when you say those words, you're locked in that cage with that person. You know, you're thinking that you're free, but no, you're locked in there with them. And so you have to let them go so that you can be, so that you can be free. So let's see how Jesus walked it out. Number one, pray for the one who hurt you. Jesus didn't wait until they apologized. He forgave mid-crucifixion, Luke 23, 34. Pray a blessing over those who wronged you. Remember, you're asking God to have the mind of Christ. And so when you suddenly feel that you need to forgive people, you do that and you pray for them.

5:55 And I remember just pretty just recently within the last week or so, there was a colleague that I work with and I don't know what I did to her. I really don't know. But yet she doesn't she doesn't speak to me. She doesn't. It's just an odd kind of relationship. Remember, I've only been there a little while, so she don't know nothing about me. I don't know nothing about her. Sometimes when you're whispering behind people's backs, it's kind of hard to walk, look at them in the face, right? And so I remember that one day, Lord said, Connie, I want you to pray for her. And I just said, okay, Lord, I'll pray for her. How do you want me to pray for her? And a simple prayer that you can pray for your enemies is they come into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. They come into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The ministering angels or a ministering person who can minister to them can actually meet them where they are and bring them into the true knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

6:48 And once you pray that, that releases you from having an hell hostage won in your own heart, but also release them from having so much power over you because you just release them to Jesus. And whatever happens after that, then you can just say, hey, Jesus, I did my part. Bible tells us also to be at peace with everyone if it's absolutely possible. So it shows that some people you're not going to be at peace with, but that don't mean that you have to be enemies with them either. You see what I'm saying? So you can actually say, we're not going to get along, so let's agree that that's not going to happen, but we can be cordial and we can work this thing out.

7:29 And you'll find out that those relationships, they seem to come together, right? Because it's a mutual respect. I'm not no longer holding you hostage to whatever offense or anything that you've done to me. I released you. So anything you do outside of that doesn't really affect me anymore. That prayer acts as a barrier. Around your heart, around your life, around all things that concern you. Because you, first of all, you have put Jesus first. And Jesus promised that he'll never leave you or forsake you. He promised to give you peace. He promised to protect you. So when you release them from that hostage in your heart, guess what? Peace is coming your way. And it can be a barrier around you where it seems like whatever they're saying doesn't really affect you.

8:17 Why? Because you've already released them to Jesus. Let's go to number two. Remember how much you've been forgiven. We forgive because we've been forgiven much. Ephesians 4.32, gratitude softens the heart and you have to remember where you've been. And a lot of times, many people were attracted to what we used to be. People attract to you and that's always kind of like a rough, rough, rough, like sandpaper kind of feeling. And then you stop and you think, you're like, wow, this girl is hurting. I'm going to pray for her. And you see her smiling around. She doesn't know you prayed for her. Remember, you're not going to get rewarded if you're going to say, hey, girl, I prayed for you. That don't matter to her because she probably not believe in the same Jesus you are, but you did your part.

9:00 And so you remembered how much you were forgiven. And so you develop a gratitude of the heart. Number three, release control of the outcome. Remember, I said, once you pray, you release it to Jesus. That means that forgiveness doesn't mean reconciliation. It means releasing the debt, releasing the hostage situation, right? And then according to Romans 12, 19, and you let God handle it going forward. You don't have to say nothing. You can still be nice. You can still do what you do, but you no longer have to be in control. And a lot of times anger and bitterness and offense is our way of rebellion, rebelling against the system, right?

9:43 I'm just going to hold this in. Lord, I don't care what you say. And Lord said, no, come on. I done forgave you. You don't have to be there, buddy, but I need you to let that go. and I can handle it. God has plans for each and every one of us. Remember, he knows each and every one of his people. Number four, guard against bitterness. It says, out resentment before it grows. Resentment is like a weed. It's like a weed. And you know, some weeds grow into trees. Oh my gosh, I found that out. We're out resentment before it grows. It's in Hebrews 12, 15. Offense left unchecked becomes bondage. I found out that a tree, if you don't have a weed, certain weeds can grow into trees.

10:25 This is a guy on YouTube. He cleans other people's yards, and you can see these weed trees. They are big. They call them travelers or suckers, but those little things that's growing out the side of your plant, those things get some big roots, and they will grow into trees. Some will grow into trees. Let's go to number five. Give yourself too. Peter whipped bitterly. But Jesus restored him, John 21, 15 to 17, the same grace that covers others covers you. And many times I have to say, Lord, forgive me for being so mean or so rude.

11:06 And it feels like I have to fight. I have to fight. I said, Lord, I don't want to fight. I want to be friends with this girl, but she doesn't want to be friends. And so I'm like, okay, then I'm not going to continue this bitterness with her. She's angry, I'm not. And I want my heart to be free. So I want the mind of Jesus. I want everything that Jesus has. I want to represent him in the earth. That means I got to let some people go. I don't have to reconcile with everybody. I'll let them go. God will bring me new friends. But remember that same grace covers others. We'll also cover you. Let's pray. Father, thank you for showing me forgiveness through Jesus. When I want to hold on to hurt, remind me of the cross. Wash my heart from resentment and teach me to release what I can't repair.

11:56 Help me to forgive quickly, love deeply, and live freely. Let forgiveness flow through me as easy as you have given it to me. In Jesus' name, amen. I decree I have the mind of Christ. My heart is free from offense. I forgive those who wrong me and bless those who misunderstand me. No bitterness can live where love reigns. I walk in mercy and not memory. Let's think on these things. Who is God inviting you to release today? And how can forgiveness become your declaration of freedom instead of your burden of pain? Something to think about. Just like I shared with you, it becomes this shield.

12:38 You release them and they go, Jesus is now responsible. No longer are you holding them hostage in your heart. I thank you for listening to Faith on the Goal. We'll be right back. Your host, Kenny Morris from the Diary of the Black Women podcast. I pray that this word energize your faith and remind you of God's promise that his word will not return void. So I want you to, that's one thing you can notice that when he says that just reminds me of when I pray and I see instant results. Remember, that word did not return void. Why? Because I released it to Jesus and I have peace. I release it to Jesus and it prospered where I sent it.

13:18 And be confident also of this. He who began a good work in you should carry it onto completion until the day of Christ. Now, I didn't say that was going to be easy, right? But he's going to complete it. So don't give him no headaches. Just follow him in obedience. And so that you can have the mind of Christ, that you can do the works of Christ. So keep believing, keep walking, keep trusting, because God will finish what he has started in you. In Jesus' name, amen. I'll see you on the next episode. Thank you for listening to this episode. And before we close out, I want to speak a word of promise over you from Jeremiah 29, 11 through 14.

14:00 Father God, you declared, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. So today we receive that truth. You said when we call on you, you will listen. So we pray. You said that when we seek you with our hearts, you will be found. So we pursue. You said you will restore us from captivity. So we declare freedom over every place where our listeners feel stuck, silenced, or small. Thank you for always drawing near when we show up in faith. In Jesus' name, amen.