Moving toward God through intentional practice

The practices we keep in life shape and form us along the way. Being intentional about those practices allows us to hold agency over who we’re becoming. Without intentionality, we simply drift in whatever direction the winds of our world want to take us. We’re choosing to engage in spiritual practices that enable us to be and become the men, women and children God designed us to be. 

Spiritual practices are:

“Habits, practices, and experiences that are designed to develop, grow, and strengthen certain qualities of spirit - to build the “muscles” of one’s character and expand the breadth of one’s inner life. They structure the “workouts” which train the soul.” 

~ Richard Foster

Every other month, we’ll focus on one spiritual practice intended to shape and form us in God’s image …

Forgiveness

May/June 2025

Let’s be honest… forgiving others can be one of the hardest things we do in life. Yet, Jesus tells his followers that forgiveness is an essential. It’s not an optional aspect of the life of following Him. It’s one of those few things, like loving, serving and sacrificing for one another, that will mark out the people of God as being different (in good ways).

What’s happening when we forgive? Have you noticed that in the Lord’s prayer, some translations say forgive us our sins and others say forgive us our debts? When we forgive another person, we’re essentially saying, “You don’t owe me anything. I’m not holding this against you any longer. You’re out of my debt.”

On the other hand, when we hold onto unforgiveness, we’re telling ourselves that this person owes us. And, that’s when bitterness and all sorts of ill effects begin to impact us.

The sad reality of life is that all of us have been or will be, at some point or another, hurt by the words or actions of others. So, let’s practice forgiveness together so we can live free from bitterness and show others what it looks like to be Jesus to the world. 

Practice

  1. Begin where you’re at. If forgiveness is hard for you, start with small stuff. If you’ve practiced forgiveness a lot, begin with the bigger stuff.

  2. Intentionally seek awareness. Ask yourself, “What gets under my skin? What tends to make me say ouch? What are my pet peeves & everyday frustrations?”

  3. Decide to be mindful of those catalysts. Ask God to help you notice when one of your patterns gets triggered. Keep at it… keep trying to be aware as early in your response as possible.

  4. Forgive. As soon as you recognize you’ve been triggered, move (with God) through forgiveness. 

  5. When ready, forgive what/who was too difficult when you started this practice. As you progress through this practice, ask God to show you if there is anyone or any group in your life that you’ve had a hard time forgiving. Or… any person or group that you have forgiven… but you now sense there’s more work to be done.

Remember - one important aspect of Spiritual practices is that they enable us to grow - to eventually do things we weren’t previously able to do. It works that way with forgiveness too.

Tell your story - don’t forget to tell others how it’s going.