Get Out Of Jail, Free
David Francis
Monopoly occasionally gives you a ‘get out of jail, free’ card. If you by chance, or ‘community chest’, end up in jail, you can use it to go free.
The game should cement families and friends together, but often intense disputes can arise! Occasionally it is good strategy to stay in jail when large rents are a bankrupting potential. Sometimes you miss others landing on your property and you inadvertently roll the dice for your next turn, only to discover you could have collected rent owed - which would have decided your outcome. Even though you know it is only a game, many bitter rows and arguments can unfortunately occur. You may never wish to play it again!
Real life relationships, involving houses and money can get even more serious. Your family, friends, home, and work can be seriously impacted. But it’s not easy to let go when resentments & bitterness form unforgiving attitudes that eat into thoughts, actions and relationships.
We had such an event when we first moved to Harrogate 24 years ago.
Around 20% of the proceeds from the sale of our previous house was being disputed by what we considered a very underhand and unfair policy of our previous local council. It was a significant amount, which had a big impact on the location and size of our new home. I fought hard and struggled against the legal manoeuvres over nearly 18 months but to no avail and eventually had to relinquish a substantial sum back to this council.
As I worried and my stress levels increased, depression and many other areas of life became negative. I felt very trapped and unable to escape the bitterness and bad feeling I had towards them. I eventually realised that to be free of worry and all associated consequences, letting go was the best and right thing to do for all concerned.
The prison bars of unforgiveness and resentment were restricting my whole life.
In Matthew 18: 21-35, the parable of the Unforgiving Servant tells of a king who forgives a servant an immense, unpayable debt. When the servant fails to do the same to those who owed him, he ends up in prison. Torturous conditions existed in such a place, more so in those times, with no chance of escape in this particular story.
In Matthew 18, Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother or sister. Tradition required forgiving three times, Peter presumed he could do up to seven times, but Jesus replied: “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22)
When we let it go and use the ‘get out of jail, free’ card of forgiving others that God provides, we gain real freedom. We can do this through the Spirit of the One whose infinite forgiveness casts all offence and sin ‘as far as East is from the West’ (Psalm 103:12)
Relinquishing my bitterness and unforgiveness towards others, I had a great millstone lifted from my shoulders. Life was better, less stress and all relationships improved.
Letting go completely of that which I held onto against another was the key.
Thank God that we can do this as we talk to Him, gain solution insights, and go on to live life outside the self-imposed prison bars of resentment, bitterness or unforgiveness.
That’s a real ‘get out of jail, free’ card! Forgive and let it go! You are a winner every time then!
