I began Inscribe the Word Scripture Writing Plans in 2016, and every year, I am in awe of how God uses these plans to bring hundreds of thousands of people to Scripture. I am humbled and honored to bring this resource to you.

This year, our theme is The Spiritual Disciplines. By placing daily spiritual rhythms in our lives, my husband and I have decided to rebuild our lives around our apprenticeship to Jesus.

Each month in 2022, we will focus on a new spiritual discipline. I will also be including some books and resources to help you put that discipline into practice in your everyday lives. In January, we inscribed verses focused on Sabbath Rest. This February, our Scripture passages were on prayer. In March, we continued our study of the Spiritual Disciplines and studied Fasting. In April, we focused on the beauty of Praise & Worship, and in May, Silence and Solitude. In June, we spent our time studying what Scripture says about Hospitality. In July, Celebration. As the summer came to a close in August, we inscribed Meditation. The crispness of Autumn brought Scripture Memorization to our hearts in September.

My prayer is that you see these not as legalistic rules but as ways to Abide in the Vine each and every day. (John 15:1-8)

I looked through a list of spiritual disciplines, asking The Holy Spirit to highlight one for our month's study. It popped off the page . . . Forgiveness.

"I don't want to do that one," I thought.
"Then that's the one you must do," came the immediate next thought.
"Okay, Holy Spirit. You win . . . again," came the next immediate thought.

In my two-year journey through The Spiritual Disciplines, I have learned that the ones I don't want to do are usually the ones I need to do. Thus, we now embark on what author, theologian, and professor Robert Muholland calls the most difficult spiritual discipline . . . forgiveness.

I am walking through a season of forgiveness in my life right now that is very difficult. As someone who sees things in black and white, right and wrong, forgiveness is really . . . really hard. If I am being honest, I don't want to forgive someone who has wronged me repeatedly. I don't want to forgive for the pain and hurt inflicted over many, many years. Like a spoiled child stomping my feet up and down, my heart cries, "I don't want to!"

Lord Jesus - Forgive me.
And He does.
Over and over again.

How quickly I can ask for forgiveness, yet how stingy I am in giving it away. Can you relate?

I think maybe you can. After all, put a simple google search in for "forgiveness," and everyone from The Mayo Clinic to Psychology Today to Stanford Magazine to Lifehack.com speaks on forgiving others. Apparently, we as a society struggle with forgiveness.

In reading Jesus' words on forgiveness, I realize He is not asking us to blindly look over the wrongdoing. In this post by counselor Susan Goertz, she lays out my struggles and some misconceptions we have about forgiveness.

If I choose to forgive my offender, I am communicating that the wrong did not hurt me or that the words or actions were okay.
If I choose to forgive my offender, I will have to be in a continued relationship with him or her.
Forgiving means I have to forget something that was very painful.
If I have truly forgiven, I will no longer have sad or angry feelings.

True forgiveness is not possible apart from God.

This is why I chose Matthew 19:26 as our first verse to inscribe this month. It has to be a constant reminder that apart from Him, I can do nothing (John 15:5). But in Christ, I can forgive, AND the actions of my offender are not okay. In Christ, I can choose to forgive AND not be in a relationship with the offender. In Christ, I can forgive AND acknowledge that what was done was wrong and painful. In Christ, I can FORGIVE and place my sad and angry feelings at His feet, knowing that He cares for me. (1 Peter 5:7)

In Christ.
This is the only way to true forgiveness, Friends.
Apart from Him, we can do nothing. (John 15:5)

When I am struggling to forgive, I remember a few things:

Jesus forgave me. And not only forgave me, but He has forgotten all of my sins. (Hebrews 8:12) If I am a disciple of Jesus with a heart to be like Him and abide in Him, then in His strength I can forgive as He did.
Forgiveness does not justify them; it frees me.
Forgiveness releases an offense into God's hands so I can heal. (1 Peter 5:7)

As we have been going through The Spiritual Disciplines this year, the words of Adele Ahlberg Calhoun in The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook ring true once again. If you haven’t purchased this book, do it today!

“Forgiveness is also an entirely new way of being human. It is Jesus’ way of being human. Jesus enters a world of wrongdoing with a heart that is open to love and forgive over and over again. Seventy times seven. Forgiveness is the lynchpin that makes relationships work. And it’s a lot different than pretending everything is fine when you feel stabbed in the heart and trust is down the toilet.
True forgiveness is more than a high ideal. It is a costly, heartrending process that refuses to ignore or minimize wrongdoing. It places blames. It condemns the wrong. But it also gives the wrongdoer a gift. Forgiveness separate wrongdoers from their wrong by refusing to label them as all bad. It refuses to add this one injustice to the injustice done to them.
A person who forgives joins his or her heart to Jesus’ heart for sinners, and risks that love can lead a wrongdoer to repentance and into the arms of God. The Spirit of Jesus inhabits every Christian. The Forgiver is alive in you and me. Part of taking up my cross is following Jesus into the deeps of forgiving. It is allowing the Spirit of Jesus to forgive through me.
It’s a serious and sobering thing to stand before “Our Father in heaven” and pray “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” To say these words is to look at the state of our heart and ask for our love to never fail. It is a prayer to become like Jesus, who for love of us didn’t hold on to his rights or his hurt. Jesus “loved his own to the end.” And he has scars in his hands and feet to prove it. Scars that heal us and give us a fresh start over and over again.”

As you glance at this month’s Scripture Writing Plan, you will notice that the majority of the verses are taken from The Gospels and Acts. All are from The New Testament. This is because Jesus had so much to say on Forgiveness that I wanted the focus this month to be on His Words.

Below is a list of resources that have helped me as I continue to memorize God’s Word.

WEBSITES & PRACTICES

The Most Difficult Discpline by Pete Scazerro
Forgiving As We Have Been Forgiven by Practicing the Way
Forgive and Be Set Free by Soul Shepherding
7 Steps to Forgive Others and Heal Your Soul by Soul Shepherding
What the Research Says on Forgiveness by Barna