Have you ever felt ‘heavy’ spiritually? Do you understand what I mean by that? Have you been around someone that had a ‘lightness’ to them? There was peace and joy and kindness leaking out of them. You enjoyed being in their presence. The opposite of that is a ‘heavy’ presence. Bitterness, anger, hurt just leaks out of them. Which would you rather be? I want to TRAVEL LIGHT! The title has 2 scriptural thoughts or anchors in mind.

Here is the part of that verse, I want to highlight. “let us strip off every weight that slows us down.” There are ‘weights’ that can slow down our journey that aren’t necessarily sinful. But they can slow us down, tire us out, wear down our spiritual stamina, push us to the brink.

The purpose of this series is to get you to TRAVEL LIGHT. Learn to lay down those things that slow you down. Our second verse for this series is this. Jesus said:

IF you are a follower of Jesus, YOU are called to be a LIGHT. So, here is our bottom line for this series.

We want to TRAVEL LIGHT so we can be TRAVELLING LIGHTS!

As a Christ- follower, according to 2 Corinthians 5:20, we are Christ’s ambassadors wherever we go. We REPRESENT Him to those around us, good or bad. An ambassador’s job was to represent their boss AS IF their boss was there. They are not there to give their own opinions but to represent their bosses. Do you think Jesus had a ‘heavy’ or ‘light’ presence? If you haven’t watched “The Chosen”, Jesus has such a ‘light’ presence. You want to BE with Him.

We are at our best when we walk LIGHTLY.

Does that bear true in your life? When you think about the things that have weighed you down at times in your life,
· Resentments
· Bitterness
· Hurts
· Shame
· Anxiety
· Secrets
· Addiction
· Lust
· Perfectionism

While you were carrying all that EXTRA WEIGHT, was it good for you spiritually? Were you “at your best”? Were you the best LIGHT for Christ in the middle of being weighted down? No…right? But IF we WANT to be a better light for Christ, than we must learn to walk LIGHTER. To lay down our HEAVY BURDENS and to PICK UP His burdens, because “the burden He gives is LIGHT.”

1 Peter 5:7 – NLT – “Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.”

TPT – “Pour out all your worries and stress upon Him and leave them there, for He always tenderly cares for you.”

We want to TRAVEL LIGHT so we can be TRAVELLING LIGHTS!

There are LOTS of “WEIGHTS” that I could talk about during this short series, but I will focus on just 3.
Have you ever been…
· Hurt?
· Lied to?
· Lied about?
· Abused?
· Bullied?
· Cheated on?
· Disrespected?
Been hurt by your spouse? Child? Parent? Step-parent? Step-Child? Friend? Pastor?

What is the worst pain you have experienced that was caused by another? That kind of hurt or pain puts a ‘weight’ on our shoulders. You cannot act ‘light’ when you carry such heaviness. Would you like to get rid of that weight? Here is a freeing truth:

My ability to heal doesn’t depend on anyone’s choices but mine!

Lysa Terkeurst in her wonderful book, “Forgiving What You Can’t Forget” says, “We CAN heal. We CAN forgive. We CAN trust God. And NONE of those beautiful realities can be held hostage by another person.”

What an incredible tool that God gives us TO FREE US and help us to walk ‘lighter’. FORGIVENESS…Now, that word can almost be a gas word for some. It can seem cruel to suggest to a hurting person that they have to forgive their offender. However, I like what Lysa Terkeurst says “Forgiveness is a command. But it is not cruel. It is God’s divine mercy for human hearts that are so prone to turn hurt into hate. We are instructed to let go of what’s behind us so we can move forward without the weight of bitterness, resentment, anger, and unforgiveness.”

Forgiveness IS HARD isn’t it? See, we only need to FORGIVE when we have been hurt and sometimes we get hurt really bad. This is a CRITICAL issue for ALL our relationships especially close ones! If you don’t choose to forgive, you are going to have unhealthy relationships because YOU CANNOT be healthy mentally or spiritually if you hold onto unforgiveness. This is one of THE MAJOR issues in marriage, one or both spouses holding onto unforgiveness.

People have misconceptions about forgiveness. What it is or what it isn’t. Here are some things that forgiveness ISN’T.
· Forgiveness is NOT saying that it was okay
· Forgiveness is NOT reconciliation. Reconciliation takes two, forgiveness just takes one.
· Forgiveness isn’t necessarily giving that person the same access they had before.
· Forgiveness isn’t really FORGETTING
· Forgiveness is NOT trust. We are not commanded to trust. We are commanded to forgive.
· Forgiveness has NOTHING to do with the other person.
· Being right isn’t an excuse to not forgive

SO WHY FORGIVE?

We want to TRAVEL LIGHT so we can be TRAVELLING LIGHTS!

Let’s see what God’s Word has to say about forgiveness. Turn to Matthew 18 in your Bible’s or find on your Bible app. As you are turning there, in this chapter, Jesus is teaching His disciples. Peter is having a moment where he is feeling God’s love and grace and he wants to share that with other undeserving people. The priests at that time would suggest the need to forgive someone 2 or 3 times, but listen to what Peter says.

Peter is going way beyond what the Law said to do. He thinks he is being gracious. But listen to how Jesus answers him.

How HARD is THAT? What keeps us from FORGIVING? Lysa Terkeurst, says there are some legit feelings that feed our resistance to forgvive. Among those are:
· I fear the offense will be repeated.
· Hanging on to a grudge gives me a sense of control in a situation that’s felt so unfair.
· The pain I experienced altered my life, and yet no one has ever validated that what I went through was wrong.
· Forgiveness feels like it trivializes, minimizes, or, worse yet, makes what happened no big deal.
· I can’t possibly forgive when I still feel so hostile toward the one who hurt me.
· I’m not ready to forgive.
· I still feel hurt.
· They haven’t apologized or even acknowledged that what they did was wrong.
· I’m still in the middle of a long, hard situation with no resolution yet.
· I’m afraid forgiveness will give them false hope that I want to reestablish the relationship, which I don’t.
· It’s easier to ignore this person altogether than to try and figure out boundaries so they don’t keep hurting me.
· What they did is unchangeable; therefore forgiveness won’t help anything.
· The person who hurt me is no longer here. I can’t forgive someone I can’t talk to.
· I don’t think any good will come from forgiveness now.

Ever felt any of those? FORGIVENESS IS HARD! But know this:

Forgiveness is HARD… Unforgiveness is HARDER!

TD Jakes, in his great book on forgiveness called “Let it Go” said, “God can only let go of what He has FOR YOU when you let go what is hindering you!”

I’ve heard it said long ago, that

“Unforgiveness is drinking poison hoping the other person gets sick”.

Unforgiveness hurts YOU! EVERY TIME! Let’s go back to our parable.

In His answer to Peter, Jesus gave us a real key to forgiving those that have harmed us. Let’s read it.

This guy owed an unpayable debt. Millions of dollars on a servants salary. And he didn’t ask for forgiveness, he asked for more time! More time would not have solved his problem. If I owed a hundred million dollars, more time wouldn’t do it for me. That is beyond my capacity to pay back! The Master, in this story, representing God, FORGIVES the debt. Washes it away. He clears the books of every penny the guy owes! This is INCREDIBLE GRACE!! These books represent the ledger of every time the guy had borrowed money. He racked up SO much debt. Now, the Master wipes all the debt away. The debt represents our sins. It’s a FRESH START! Forgiveness is AMAZING to get! What should have been in his heart now? GRATITUDE? THANKSGIVING? JOY? BUT what WAS in his heart?

When we receive forgiveness freely from the Lord but refuse to GIVE it, something heavy starts to form in our souls. It’s NOT GOOD for us to be willing receivers, but stingy givers. If you RECEIVE forgiveness, you should give forgiveness. I think Jesus is making the point that:

FORGIVEN PEOPLE SHOULD BE FORGIVING PEOPLE

The master had forgiven his servant THIS much {point to set of books} debt and he was exacting payment for this much {hold up brochure} debt!

Jesus is telling us the key to forgiving is to remember how much WE have been forgiven. And if Jesus has FORGIVEN us of ALL OF THIS, how can we hold on to THIS debt that someone owes us?

We want to TRAVEL LIGHT so we can be TRAVELLING LIGHTS!

If you don’t CHOOSE to forgive, a root of bitterness will eventually form, and it will poison your spirit. And that is HEAVY. Your presence will not be LIGHT to anyone around you. Let’s look back at this forgiven servant. His response to grace, made a negative impact on those around him.

They KNEW what he had been forgiven and could not believe that he couldn’t forgive such a small debt in comparison. So, not allowing his master’s grace to fully transform his heart, caused that grace to be rescinded.

There are some spiritual consequences for not forgiving. Let’s just focus on the one’s that we experience NOW.
· Will your life be ‘lighter’ if you hold onto unforgiveness or if you choose forgiveness?
· Will your life be better if you hold onto unforgiveness or if you choose forgiveness?
· Can you think of even one real benefit to unforgiveness? One way that your life will be better if you choose to NOT FORGIVE?
· Can you think of some ways that your life WOULD be better IF you weren’t carrying around this extra weight?

What an incredible promise that Jesus gives us in…

Is there someone YOU need to forgive?
If not today, WHEN?
5 more months of bitterness? 2 more years? 10 more years?

Your future self is begging you to take care of it TODAY! Stop carrying the EXTRA WEIGHT! What good is the unforgiveness doing you?
· It does not protect you!
· It is not a force field!
· It robs you!
· It limits you!
· It holds you back!
· You are not present in the moment because you are still holding on to the past!

When will it be ENOUGH? When will you say:
· “I have been hindered by that memory LONG ENOUGH.”
· I have worried LONG ENOUGH!
· I have lived in bondage LONG ENOUGH!
· I have walked around carrying this baggage LONG ENOUGH!
· I have circled around this issue LONG ENOUGH!
· WHEN will it be ENOUGH?
· How about TODAY?

God wants you to live LIGHTLY so you can shine BRIGHTLY
Find an index card and write on it, WHO you want to FORGIVE. And when you think of their name, here is what I want you to remind yourself.

Because I have been forgiven, I WILL DROP THE ROCK!

Remember,

God wants us to TRAVEL LIGHT so we can be TRAVELLING LIGHTS!