Do you struggle with giving it to God and letting go of past hurts that are currently affecting your life, your emotions, and relationships? What one step can you take to begin the process of learning how to give it to God, let go of past hurts and finding emotional healing?
There’s power in giving it to God and letting go. We all go through disappointments, hurts, and setbacks and things that we do not understand. You prayed for a loved one, but they did not get well. Or you worked hard for a promotion, but you did not get it. You stood in faith for a relationship, but it did not work out, or someone promised you something, and they did not deliver.
Why is it so hard for us to give it to God and let go of past hurts? Why is it so difficult to let go of experiences that have caused us pain and suffering?
Every day women face a choice: you can look backward, allowing your past hurts to determine your identity, or you can imagine a brighter future for yourself. Which ones succeed? Which ones realize the destiny God has planned for them?
Those of us facing obstacles of our own have the same choice and challenge every day. Like the Bible character Ruth, we can choose to let go of the past and start the future in a new land (Ruth 1:16).
Ruth was a woman of excellence because she was not held hostage to her past hurts. We can learn from yesterday, but we are not to live in it.
The devil would love for you to stay stuck in the past hurts. He would not even mind if, dreaming of an unrealistic future, we slacked off on what God has for us today. Each day we have the choice to embrace the future God has prepared for us, are continuing to lick our wounds.
Many of us get stuck in past hurts because of our need for certainty. We need to feel certain that we can avoid pain and, ideally, find some comfort in our lives. Letting go of past hurts also means stepping into the unknown. It means having the courage to let go of what is familiar – even if it is negative – and being vulnerable enough to embrace and learn from what is ahead.
Holding on to past hunts can be a conscious decision just like forgiving, letting go and moving forward can be a conscious decision. Either way it goes, it is a decision you have to make. Do you want to forgive, let go of past hurts, and move on, or do you want to hold on to the hurt and anger, and suffer the consequences.
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32
“They will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
– Jeremiah 31:34
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How Do You Forgive and Let Go of Past Hurts?
Are we destined to carry them forever? Is it even possible to let go of past hurts? It is a process with small victories along the way.
There may be moments when you feel you have forgiven someone, or yourself, only to rediscover through a trigger that those same raw emotions of anger, bitterness, fear, and regret have risen once again to the surface.
But at those times I want to encourage you not to give up, but to keep going – one step at a time. Because when you carry unforgiveness with you throughout your life, it affects you in more ways than you realize.
Fortunately, we can forgive and let go of past hurts and stop carrying them around. Because forgiveness is a matter of the heart, the emotions of hurt, anger, cruel words spoken in anger. A betrayal of trust. Promises broken. A destructive relationship you knew you should not have entered into, disappointment, and pain can sometimes obscure the importance of extending mercy and grace.
However, forgiveness is worth figuring out. It releases both the giver and the receiver and allows both to experience the gift of freedom from the past. I am remined how God encourages us in His Word: Be tenderhearted and forgiving.
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. –1 Peter 5:7
God has your best interests at heart when He tells you to forgive and let go of your past hurts. He wants you to be happy and to live a long, healthy life.
Nursing a hurt or anger against someone and having unforgiveness in your heart are not worth losing your joy, peace, and health over.
Do not let the devil lie to you about you cannot forgive anyone, if you find it difficult to forgive someone, then look to the cross and see how perfectly God has let go every sin you have and will ever commit. Bring Jesus into your bitter situation. When you know how perfectly He loves you and has forgiven you, you will be able to forgive that person too. And the more you let go of offences against you, the less the enemy can make inroads into your mind, heart, and body. Remember when you need to let go of past hurts:
- Have compassion for the person that has offended or hurt you.
- Be conscious about your need to forgive.
- Release the person. Holding them hostage, locked up, is in reality holding yourself hostage, and locked up to the pain.
- Forgive the wrong done by the person to you. And let them go free, just as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13 NIV
Remember, God loves you, understands your pain and suffering, and has forgiven you through the cross. He wants you to know that your past hurts do not have to poison your future.
No matter how many dark days you have experienced, God has prepared many wonderful open doors of opportunity, favor, and good success for you to walk through in the days ahead. Your brightest and most glorious days are still ahead of you.
What the Bible Says About Leaving the Past Behind?
Paul does not claim any perfection of his own but instead relies upon the strength and power of Christ to work this goodness in him.
Paul new that we should leave behind the parts of our lives that keep up from being completely and totally devoted to Jesus. Anything that would distract and take our focus off Jesus, we are to let go and leave behind.
Any past hurts, sin or selfishness that distracts our hearts from God. You should be deliberately laid aside, and we should constantly reach for holiness and righteousness, keeping your eyes on Jesus.
It creates an image of a work in progress – Paul says that he has not yet attained or arrived at perfection, and his striving for God’s goodness is a perpetual state of action.
Philippians 3:13 says, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.”
Why Is It So Hard to Let Go of Past Hurts?
As a woman, we love hard, but we find one of the best things you can do is release it. Let it go. There is nothing like the pain of letting go.
There is nothing like the pain of loving something or someone so much, that in the end, all you can do is let them go- and let them be happy, even though you know you will never be a part of their happiness.
If you go around dwelling on it, wondering why this did not work out, why my loved one did not get healed, why I did not get that promotion, all that is going to do is lead to bitterness, resentment, self-pity.
Before long you will be blaming others, blaming yourself, even blaming God. You may not have understood it. It may not have been fair. But when you release it, it is an act of your faith. You are saying, “God, I trust you.
I know you are in control. And even though it didn’t work out my way, you said, ‘all things are going to work together for my good.’ so I believe you still have something good in my future”.
When I am trying to get over a past hurt, I depend on God to bring me out of it.
Related: 3 Steps to Let Go and Give Your Worries to God
Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9
How Do You Forgive and Forget Your Past?
When there is someone who have hurt your heart to the core, who have talked about you where there is know point of return, it is only by the Grace of God that will save you.
How often have we told yourselves that you could forgive the person who hurt you, who wronged you, but you could never forget the offense? You may even have tried to forget what happened, but to know avail.
“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” (Romans 12:14).
Have you ever been in a position where you wanted to bless someone who has wounded or wronged you.
It is more natural to curse that person, to call down condemnation on them. It is even harder to bless if the other person does not care about the hurt, they have caused you, or they gloat about it. But Romans 12:14 is a command, so we need to talk about how to return good for evil.
If God has allowed you to go through some painful experiences, and if you have forgiven the person but still have the memories, God wants to use that event for your growth and His glory.
A Jesus enemies were nailing Him to the cross, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
I believe once we say what Jesus said, that the only way we receive forgiveness.
Forgiveness is not pretending like the wound did not happen, or that it did not really hurt. Then you are lying. If it happened, it happened, and if it hurt, it hurt.
Forgiveness does not mean just brushing off the offense as if it were nothing. So, forgiveness does not start with a feeling. Instead, it is a decision of your will to no longer charge the offense to the offender’s account.
It is the decision to release the other person from a debt in spite of how you feel. And remember what Jesus said on the cross, “it is finished. Forgive and let it go.
He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9
Has anyone ever hurt or offended you? God tells us in His word that we can forgive others because of our love for Jesus Christ and the forgiveness God granted us through His death on the cross.
“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).
Related: HOW TO LET GO OF PAST HURTS IN 22 STEPS
Bible Verses About Letting Go of Past Hurts
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
“Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth!”
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable, and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body, we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. …
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Free Scripture Printable
I pray that this is a place where you can gain encouragement in your prayer life and in your relationship with God! Here you will find a free colorful Bible Scripture printables, that you can download by clicking on the highlighted links.
You are welcome to use this printable for personal use or in small group Bible studies.
Have a wonderful day! Enjoy!
