Unbearable Loads

How many times have we fallen into the error of carrying within ourselves the burdens, the consequences, and even the guilt of the sins that other people have committed?
Many, without a doubt.

An offense, an injustice committed, can awaken the worst in our nature: some rudeness received from someone, which awakens resentment, anger that refuses to pass, that truly imprisons the heart and makes life bitter.
Bad memories about the consequences of some wrongdoing we suffered at the hands of another person, which are stirred up in every encounter, in every conversation, burning like embers covered by ash... embers that do not go out, that continue to fuel these bad feelings.

There may also be those who have suffered some form of physical aggression that has left marks on their body and soul.
More and more embers burn in the hearts of those who received them: they burn and leave the heart in bitterness and pain, which can be carried for years and years on end... perhaps for a lifetime.
However, what exactly is this attitude, to what can it be compared, on the part of those among us who have suffered injustice, harm, or aggression?

This way of acting is nothing more than accepting a burden that is not ours, that was placed upon us because of a sin committed by another person.
It is accepting to carry a burden that we are not obligated to carry. It is to embitter our lives with something we don't have to care about: the life that God has granted us has unfortunate, unjust events, not because He granted it to us for that purpose, but they happen because of the sin we carry and also because there is no one on earth who is free from this sad condition.

Given this, we eventually wonder if there is a solution, if there is something that can extinguish these embers within us, make this bad feeling pass, and allow life to move on freely, without this weight that makes it bitter.

If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness, so that you may be feared.

(Psalm 130:3-4 – ACF)

The passage highlighted above speaks of forgiveness: forgiveness is found in God, says the psalmist.
If God had a nature like ours, he too would observe and resent every sin, every wrong we commit: even when sin brings some consequence for ourselves or for our neighbor, the truth is that it is first committed against God and only then against the person who is victimized by it.
This is what King David said when he wrote Psalm 51, after being rebuked by the prophet Nathan for his adultery with Bathsheba:

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.

(Psalm 51:4a – ACF)

But God is not like that: He knows how weak and fickle we are and how difficult it is for us to forgive and let go of the burdens that the sins of others impose on us. Difficult, but not impossible for those who know His love.
This love led Him, in the person of Jesus, to take our sins upon Himself, to bear a weight that we could never bear, in order to give healing to our souls, divine forgiveness, and reconciliation with Himself.
He is the one who carried this burden, which was not His, but ours, and took it away from all of us, forgiving and offering forgiveness to all humanity through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, we no longer have to bear the weight of guilt for our own sins... and even less so for the sins of others!
There are people, for example, who carry some kind of relationship problem with their parents from childhood throughout their lives; many others carry in their hearts the negative, derogatory words they heard from a sibling.
Their lives become embittered because they do not want to (or feel unable to) forgive what was done to them.
This is what it means to carry the weight of someone else's sin: bitterness, anger, and things we keep dwelling on, preventing joy and the pleasure of living... resentments that cause disgust and only destroy, without anything being gained in return.

But with Christ in their heart, anyone can and does overcome this resentment, doing what is often so difficult, or even impossible, through their own strength: forgiving those who have caused them so much suffering.
Yes, forgiveness is something that comes from God.
We don't have to embitter our lives, because God grants us forgiveness for our sins to such an extent that we can even share it with others!
This is so possible that in the prayer taught by Jesus himself, the Lord's Prayer, in Matthew 6:9-13, There is a request to that effect:

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

(Matthew 6:12 – ACF)

What God wants is for us to follow the example of Jesus, whose first words after being nailed to the cross were:

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”.

(Luke 23:34a – ACF)

This example is not easy to follow and, without God's help, it would even be impossible.
But the inner transformation of those who know and feel God's love in their lives is impressive: more than a desire, Christians often have a NEED to forgive their neighbor!
This is something that does not come from them, but from the Spirit of God that dwells in them.

And it is not without reason that God asks us to learn from Him, who possesses forgiveness, to forgive our fellow man.
Anyone who has had the experience of forgiving a serious offense knows that forgiveness given does more good than forgiveness received, because the one who forgives gains even more than the one who is forgiven.
Bitterness and resentment fade away, and life becomes happier.
With God comes forgiveness that lifts both the weight of sins from our shoulders and the burden that the sins of others insist on imposing on us.

ORIGINAL TITLEWhy carry this weight?

I learned some time ago that forgiveness is essential to a full Christian life, but observing some biblical episodes, I also ended up learning how to escape from... Brothels of Wrath, Because in some cases, granting forgiveness does not obligate one to remain in a relationship…
It's noticeable that the disagreements have intensified and the insults have multiplied… this seems more like a indication That the end times are rapidly approaching, and before the Lord returns like a thief in the night, the prophesied reign of the Antichrist must be consolidated not only in Brazil, but throughout the world!
In the 2023 phase of "The Worst Gospel," I decided to use new formats in the hope of helping to increase the reach of content related to the Scriptures—stories, videos, shorter texts, guest authors…—and this publication, which I took the liberty of revising and illustrating, is part of that project.
Thank you for reading this far.
I still need all the help I can get: comments, shares, and reactions help spread this content, which was entirely produced with the intention of contributing to the edification of the Body of Christ in the world.