12 Monthly Challenges to Elevate Your Faith | October Faith Challenge | Practicing Forgiveness

 

As the leaves begin to fall and the air grows crisp, we are invited into a season of reflection and renewal. This October, our faith challenge focuses on a transformative and often challenging aspect of our spiritual journey: Practicing Forgiveness.

The Hebrew Scriptures, while often depicting justice and consequence, also reveals profound instances of forgiveness, reconciliation, and GOD’S boundless mercy. From Joseph forgiving his brothers to GOD’S repeated forgiveness of Israel, these narratives provide a powerful foundation for understanding and embracing the liberating power of a forgiving heart. This month, let's intentionally seek to release bitterness and extend grace, mirroring the heart of GOD.

The Challenge: Releasing and Receiving Forgiveness

Let's make forgiveness an active and ongoing practice, not just a single moment, whether it's forgiving others, seeking forgiveness ourselves, or even extending grace to ourselves.

Here’s how to engage with the challenge:

1. Identify an Area for Forgiveness: Prayerfully consider one specific person, situation, or even an aspect of your past where forgiveness is needed. This could be someone who has wronged you, a past mistake you struggle to let go of, or a situation where you need to extend forgiveness to yourself.
2. Daily Prayer for a Forgiving Heart: Each day, consciously pray for the grace to forgive. Ask GOD to soften your heart, remove bitterness, and empower you to release the offense. If you need to seek forgiveness, pray for humility and the right words.
3. Reflect on Examples: Once a week, meditate on a story from the Old Testament that highlights forgiveness or reconciliation. Consider Joseph's journey with his brothers (Genesis 45), David's mercy towards Saul's family (2 Samuel 9), or GOD’S patient forgiveness of His people (e.g., in the book of various prophets). Reflect on the peace and freedom that came through these acts.
4. Journal Your Journey of Forgiveness: Keep a journal throughout October. Document the specific areas you're addressing, any emotions that arise, and how you are actively working towards forgiveness. Note down scriptures that speak to you about mercy and grace. Also, consider how you might communicate forgiveness or seek reconciliation from others.

Supporting Scriptures 

The Holy Scriptures provides profound wisdom on the nature of forgiveness:

• Proverbs 19:11:
  "A person’s wisdom has made him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense."
  
  Principle Gleaned: This proverb teaches that true wisdom leads to patience and the ability to choose to "overlook an offense." It suggests that the act of letting go of a wrong, rather than dwelling on it or seeking retribution, is a commendable and honorable characteristic, bringing glory to the one who practices it.
• Leviticus 19:18:
  "‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am YAH."
  
  Principle Gleaned: This foundational command from the Law explicitly prohibits revenge and holding grudges, instead calling for active love towards one's neighbor. It highlights that true forgiveness involves releasing the desire for retaliation and choosing to love, recognizing that this command comes directly from YAH Himself.

Conclusion

Practicing forgiveness is a powerful act of obedience and liberation. It frees us from the chains of bitterness and resentment, allowing us to experience deeper peace and healing. As you embrace this October Faith Challenge, may you discover the profound freedom that comes from extending and receiving forgiveness, and may your heart reflect more of GOD’S boundless mercy.

I hope this blog post has been helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below. Shalom qodesh qadasheem - the “set apart ones.”