Conditioning

tarynbarnes

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Hi Peeps,

Today’s Quote

“Forgiveness is like running a marathon in that you cannot practice for one day and then expect to excel. In order to be successful, you must put in the work, conditioning your mind and heart to achieve desired results” ~Taryn Barnes

Tough Business

I’ll be honest, forgiveness is a tough business. There are times where transgressions can pass you by with a blink of an eye. Then other times, you may find yourself thinking things that you wouldn’t dare tell another living soul. As we progress in our walk with God, we get tested in all aspects and forgiveness can be quite the challenge.

Unpack Your Feelings

I recently had a major struggle in the forgiveness department. On paper, I understood that the chain of events wouldn’t resolve in the way that I would’ve liked, and at the time I had made up my mind to forgive and move on. However, as logical as I am, I forgot to dig a little deeper to unpack the emotional aspects of forgiveness. Though my brain had moved on, I had come to realize that I was still fraught with anger, resentment, rejection, sadness, and other fun feelings.

Let Them Go

Once I targeted the emotional barriers that were tripping me up on my quest for forgiveness, I realized that I had to let them go. Holding on to negative emotions only hinders your progress to grow with God, clouding your mind and judgment. Bottom line, you have to acknowledge those feelings in order for you to let them go.

Practice Makes Perfect

It takes practice to improve the art of forgiveness. Some people take to it naturally, while others have to put in a little extra work, which is perfectly ok. Don’t be afraid to get a training partner, who has run the race of forgiveness a bit longer than you. I often tease my dad about how amazing he is at forgiving people. Like a raincoat in the midst of a crazy storm, allowing transgressions to fall right off. I’m still working on my raincoat, but I try and put in the practice. We all start somewhere, advancing to different levels as we progress. Fortunately, in time, and with proper conditioning, we can extend grace and mercy to our fellow man as God extends it to us.

Question of the day

Are you showing up for your strength and conditioning practices for forgiveness?

The Budding of Aaron’s Staff

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff. 3 On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. 4 Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the ark of the covenant law, where I meet with you. 5 The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites.” 6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron’s staff was among them. 7 Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the tent of the covenant law. 8 The next day Moses entered the tent and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each of the leaders took his own staff. 10 The LORD said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.” 11 Moses did just as the LORD commanded him. 12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost! 13 Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the LORD will die. Are we all going to die?”

 

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