“Remove Unforgiveness.” God spoke these words to me in February 2020.One morning during deep prayer, I spoke to God about a myriad of things—I prayed for my siblings, immediate family, personal battles and healing for a beloved cousin-in-law who was in hospice after a three-year struggle with brain and lung cancer. I focused all of my attention on these particular items—interceding with an emotional passion that can sometimes overwhelm both my quiet time and thoughts; making it harder to hear any response from God. My own emotion can get in the way of communication—though I know God knows that about me. He knows and understands everything about all of us.

I suppose I must have paused long enough to hear these words: “remove unforgiveness.” I thought it was odd and off-topic. What did unforgiveness have to do with any of the things I prayed about? I immediately thought it must have been my own mind pulling up some random idea. Until I was overwhelmed the strong sense that I needed to really listen. To be quiet and listen.

As God spoke to my heart, I asked if I could write it down. I’ll be expounding on the notes I took that day in an effort to share with you.

Unforgiveness is insidious and its consequences are deadly. It can disrupt our peace and well-being. It can masquerade as power when in actuality it destroys us from the inside out. We may not be consciously aware that we are harboring it. On a daily basis, our actions, thoughts, mentality and interactions can be directed by it. It halts our progression; both naturally (our human experience) and spiritually (our relationship with God.)

Forgiveness does not mean allowing others to re-offend. It doesn’t mean allowing someone “another chance” when there are red flags signaling that you should protect yourself. It doesn’t mean letting people walk over you,  abuse you repeatedly or staying in damaging situations. Forgiveness has everything to do with YOU: your mental, spiritual and physical health. It has nothing to do with the person who offended you.

I’ll be posting this in a series, and it will be a practicum—will require analysis, participation and action on your part. If you’re really serious about this, it will require a pen and paper. I won’t be talking about what forgiveness means. There are books and definitions for that.  I will only be addressing actively removing unforgiveness from your life.  I’ll write about acknowledging unforgiveness and recognizing its evidence. I’ll also relate what God spoke regarding how to remove and replace unforgiveness.