Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28 NLT

Today’s lesson is one that we ALL need!  Every one of us has carried baggage into our relationships and marriages.  Not a single one of us are immune when it comes to things of the past that have hurt us greatly.  Whether we’re talking about things from our childhoods growing up, to past relationships, to things that have even hurt us in our marriages.  There is one thing that they all have in common, though.  They are all in the past!  Each and every one of these events that you are carrying around with you all happened at some point in the past.  There is no changing them and no going back at this point.  We can only go forward!  In order to do so, we have to make peace with things in our past that are haunting us still to this very day.

As Cindi and Hugh point out in their book, here are some common baggage that couples carry around with them:

1.  Victimization Baggage.  I’m sure you’ve heard people that say that due to things that have happened to them, they will always be or feel a certain way.

2.  Insecurity Baggage.  This is a tough one in that no matter what a person thinks or feels about themselves, it is hard to get them to see themselves through your eyes.  Nothing you can say or do will convince them otherwise if they have their minds set that they are lacking in one area or another.

3.  Past Baggage.  A lot of people blame how they currently are today on how they were raised feeling as if they would not be this way in the present day if they hadn’t been treated like this or that when they were growing up.

4.  Relational Baggage.  Oh yes, the all too familiar one where you were hurt by this person in the past, so you carry this into your current relationship and marriage not really trusting the person you’re with due to being cheated on, lied to, or betrayed in some way by someone else.

5.  Personal Baggage.  If you’re struggling with something in your life, if there is some skeleton in your closet that you don’t want to reveal, if you live a secret life and refuse to let someone in because of this … you are most definitely carrying around personal baggage.

6.  Excess Baggage.  There are so many scars from the past and wounds that have been uncovered that you’re just not sure which end is up any more!

If you could identify with any of the above, you have a host of millions of other people standing right alongside of you!

Do any of these things benefit you in any way?  Do they bring happiness and joy into your life?  NO!   

All each of these things are doing is bringing you down.  It’s zapping your energy and stealing your joy and happiness!  It’s causing a tremendous amount of trouble in your present relationships and marriages.

Why not stop the madness?

Have you considered checking the baggage at the gate with the ONLY One who can relieve us of all of these heavy burdens that we carry around?  All we have to do is ask God … and He will help us!  He will reach down His mighty hand, and He will lift this load that we’ve been carrying around with us.  If we ask and believe in Him, He WILL do this!  He will help us unpack each and every thing in our suitcase!  He will remove each thing that is weighting us down.

Will you join us today in checking the baggage at the gate with Jesus so that we no longer have to carry this heavy load around with us?  Who’s with us?

Join us tomorrow for … Finding Encouraging Words.

For all previously posted in this series, click here.

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