Are you a person who often worries about things in your life? Are you a person that has believed for years that you are just a ‘worry-er? If so, you must realize that you may be a worry-er now, but you have not been created to be that! Worrying is a horrible ‘acquired skill’. Worrying shows us that we are not actually trusting God for the things He told us are ours concerning who we are, what we have, and what we can do.
Also, if you have accepted being a ‘worry-er’ as part of your identity, please realize that what you are doing is saying that that is who you are made to be. But when you look into God’s Word you see that you were not at all created for worrying. In fact, worrying is something that He does not want us to do, at all!
There are ways to free ourselves from this lifestyle of worrying and become people who live in line with what God says to be true about us. One of the ways we do this is by using the act of forgiveness. How does this work to get rid of the habit of worrying? Think back and try to recall when it was that you began worrying about things. Was it because of people in your surroundings? Have others thought you to focus on the negative or on all that could go wrong in your life? Have you been taught to focus on things that may never even happen at all? Have you taken over all these negative things that others have poured into your life? Do you now read things in the Bible, like when God says: “I know the plans I have for you, plans to give you hope and a future”, but does your worrying mind immediately kick in and reject the promises of God? Are you unable to accept God’s promises as you reality?
When using forgiveness to free yourself from worrying, you ‘choose to forgive’. You can simply say to your Father in Heaven: “I choose to forgive this person (name) for teaching me that things will not work out for me, that life will always be heavy, that my finances will never be good, etc. I choose to forgive them for imprinting on me the lie that I cannot trust You for the things that I need and for my life. I choose to trust You and believe your promises (look for specific promises in God’s Word that apply to your situation). I choose to see myself in light of your promise and I release those persons who have taught me to see life negatively from any judgments I may have judged them with. I now choose to believe your word today!”
From then on you focus and meditate on those promises rather than on the negative you have heard all your life. You will see that as you life grows in the truth of the promises of God your worrying will become less and less…
Decide to place the Word of God higher than: your circumstances, words that have been spoken over you, or lifestyles of people who have tought you to worry. You are NOT a worry-er! You are a child of the most high God and He has made His Kingdom and all that is in it available to you. So throw worry out the window and choose to trust God’s Word today!