Carry-On Baggage

Last week we began a new series at Metro Harvest entitled "Baggage" that will be running throughout the month of February. We're going to unpack this topic by looking at the different kinds of baggage we carry through life life namely: carry-on baggage, relational baggage, lost baggage, checked baggage, etc.

If you've traveled recently, you've found that many airlines are currently charging for baggage. More and more people are packing carry-ons, because though there's less room in these bags, they're not going to get lost, and you'll save the 25 bucks they're currently charging you to bring your clothes on the trip! That being said, I'm amazed at what some people are attempting to bring with them on planes these days.

Case in point: One individual I saw came down the isle of a regional jet with a bag the size of a grand piano. After almost breaking two windows, and several unsuccessful attempts to get it in the overhead storage bin, the flight attendant picked up on the fact that this man was obviously "spatially challenged." Being the diplomatic expert that she was, she suggested that it probably wasn't going to fit.  I was amazed as she gently stepped in, had the bag lowered by crane to the floor, and removed it by forklift to the cargo hold beneath the aircraft. 

Okay, I'm obviously exaggerating a bit...it was actually only the size of a baby grand piano. But seriously, isn't that the way we approach problems in life? What's obvious to everyone else, isn't obvious to us at all. People around us are amazed at what we won't let go of, and how we're convinced that by carrying around all this baggage, we're actually saving ourselves something in the end.

We hold on to past wounds, hurts, and offenses for much of our lives persuaded that we're justified in carrying them. What we don't see is that by not forgiving, by not letting things go, those words and hurts have become like a ball and chain. Left unattended, we've  become shackled throughout our lives to events that could have been released decades earlier.

Instead of defining who we are, we become defined by what others have done to us, rather than by what we have done for others.

In Matthew 18:21, Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?" Jesus' reply was, "No, not seven times, but seventy times seven!" (NLT) You can look at the response another way by framing the answer like this, "How much freedom do you want to experience?" If you want to be free all the time, then forgive every time.

In this journey called life my advice is this: Put down the baggage, pay the price of forgiveness up front, and let it go. Carrying it around is just way too expensive. After all, it is called "luggage" for a reason!