“Happy are the merciful.” — Matthew 5:7

Amends are essential in our life in order to heal us emotionally. If we’ve decided to turn our lives and will over to the care of God, it’s important that we look at whom we may owe amends to. Making a proper amends can be a new beginning to the end of your isolation from God and others.

Some say, “Well God’s already forgiven me, so I’m good to go”. “I don’t need to drag up all that junk from the past”. “Amends are hard/difficult, and don’t come easy”. Amends aren’t just about your past as much as it’s essential for your future. If we push these resentments and bitterness deep down, they’re still there and can come out in unhealthy ways, such as addictions, compulsions and various other vices. Healthy relationships come as a result of coming clean of all of our guilt, shame, pain and loss that’s caused many of our past relationships to fail or thrive. In Luke 6:31 the scripture reminds us to treat others the way we want to be treated. I know it’s hard at times, and you may have abuse, abandonment or other intense hurts there. Some things done to us simply weren’t our fault. Nonetheless, we have to choose to forgive! I know it can be very painful, as I’ve been there too. Even in cases of abuse, molestation or adultery-we have to choose to forgive. Forgiveness doesn’t mean we’re condoning their behavior, it means we are choosing to forgive them and release them. Forgiveness is the key that opens the door to healing! You have to want to be healed and set free! Allowing that person “free rent” in your head and obsessing over all the hurts and wrongs done to you is not freedom…it’s bondage. For some, this may be very difficult. You may have been hurt very badly, abandoned or abused. Many of you had nothing to do with the wrong committed against you. Think of it this way: It’s like a gardener working in their garden with a bed full of flowers and tons of weeds. If they simply pull off or chop off the tops of the weeds, they’ll continue to grow (like emotional issues festering such as: resentments, bitterness, anger, hatred and un-forgiveness). These weeds will kill you emotionally and shrivel your soul. But if we’ll take the time to pull out the entire root of the weed (making amends and extending forgiveness), then the weeds will be gone. This action will set us FREE and we’ll begin to experience true FREEDOM in our life!

At Celebrate Recovery, we have specific steps we take in order to make amends and offer forgiveness. It’s not always easy, but it’s a proven pathway towards peace and freedom!

Come check it out at The Journey, 4191 Plainview Hwy (across from Plain View Elementary School) in Dunn. For more information please call 910-379-4033.