Andy Stanley - The Art of Letting Go Gracefully
To be honest, you don't have to answer this out loud, do you? Do you enjoy catching your fiance? Do you enjoy catching your girlfriend? Do you enjoy catching your spouse messing up? Is there something that's in you? It's like, okay, I'm gonna bring it up gently, but I'm gonna bring it up. Is there something, is there any sense of aha? And you do you enjoy catching them messing up? That's messed up. Stop it. Here's why I say stop it. Not because the Bible says so, not because I think I'm the boss of you. Stop it because that's not what God does for you.
And this whole new way of living, this whole new way of loving is taking our cue from our Heavenly Father who sent his son into this world to deal once and for all with our sin. And he's gotta file cabinet on you a mile long. He never opens it and he hasn't forgotten. He just doesn't bring it up. He says, now I want you to go do that for other people. Well, that's difficult. Of course, it's difficult. All of this is difficult. None of this is natural. It's just better. None of this is easy. It's just better.
That's why following Jesus will make your life better. It'll make you better at life. He says, don't come and try to be exactly like me. I just want you to follow me. And over time, you'll fall into the rhythm of a brand new way of thinking about life and love in particular. Forgiving. Forgiving, and then pretending to forget is always your best bet. Forgiving, and then pretending to forget is always your best bet. 'cause remember this, this is important. You can be if your parent, if you're in any relationship, you, you, you can be. You can be exactly right and end up exactly alone. You can be exact.
In other words, you can be right about what you say 100% of the time, and no one will want to live with you. And it won't be because you're wrong. It's because you were always right and you were right too often, and you just couldn't shut that stupid cabinet and leave it shut. You kept bringing up the past and you are a hundred percent right. I mean, your details, your notes, your dates, your memory, it was perfect. And nobody wants to be around you.
And your heavenly Father says, there's a better way. I want you to forgive and then live like you've forgotten, because that's what I did for you as far as the east is from the West. So far have I removed my transgressions from you from as far as the east is from the west So far? Has he removed your transgressions from you and from his memory besides, come on, let's be honest and I'll move on. Besides it's a power play. Come on. The moment you reach for that handle, it's a power play. Why? Because when someone holds the past over your head, who is in the elevated position, the moment somebody begins to remind you of your past, who is in the elevated position?
Love does not power up. Love always steps down. Paul said it this way, Jesus. Jesus made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant. And he says, now follow me. Follow me into your marriage. Follow me into that relationship. Follow me as a parent. Follow me as a boss. Follow me as an employee. Take this kingdom values, these kingdom values. Take this kingdom mindset. Take this upside down way of approaching life into every relationship you're in.