In today’s jargon it’s not unusual to hear someone say, “Just get over it!” While that can sound abrupt or uncaring, there is in that hackneyed phrase some good advice. Let’s focus on what you and I need to “get over,” what we need to put behind us, what we need to abandon in order to be effective for Jesus, as well as peaceful and happy.

The first thing we need to “get over” is hurt feelings. So much harm comes from hurt feelings, so much unnecessary pain. So, if your feelings are hurt easily, I would kindly say to you today, “Get over it.”

 

But how? Here are some suggestions.

 

1.    Break old habits. When your feelings are hurt, think, “Is this really about me, or could there be some other reason that this person behaved in this way?” Break that habit of taking everything personally and imagining that someone is intentionally offending you, when in reality they are simply focused on their own problems and not thinking about you at all.

 

2.    Buy time. Don’t respond to your hurt feelings quickly. Swallow those words you want to say, and buy yourself some time to be able to move from the emotional to the rational.

 

3.    Build healthy calluses. Ask God to toughen you up, so that you are not so prone to take everything personally. Seek to build a more healthy outlook so that those unintended remarks or actions that have hurt you in the past will start to bounce off.

 

4.    Bring it into the open. If you feel you have truly been offended, write out how you were hurt, and put it away for two days. Then read it again, and if you are still truly offended, determine how you will confront that person in a biblical, loving way. Chances are good that after two days you’ll tear up the paper and say to yourself that it’s really not that big a deal.

 

When we can make progress in this area of controlling our hurt feelings, we are becoming more and more conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. It will take God’s power to change these long-ingrained habits of hurt feelings, but if we are born from above, we have the power of God’s Spirit to enable us to “get over it.”

 

Another thing we need to get over is continually dwelling on our past. In Philippians 3 Paul writes, "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

 

Paul is focused on one thing: winning the prize, doing what God has called him to do. Paul could put his past behind him because he had a goal in front of him. You know, when you're occupied with doing something worthwhile, when you have activities that are meaningful and important, you can put the past behind you much more easily. One of the great blessings of being involved in the lives of others is that it causes us to forget ourselves.

 

Another reason Paul could put his past behind him was that he knew he was forgiven and that God remembered his past sins no more. I can imagine that he must have struggled with the fact that he had persecuted and killed Christians in his past, but on that Damascus road Jesus found him and from that point on he was a forgiven man, and he had accepted that forgiveness.

 

Maybe that is what is keeping you enslaved to your past—you really don't feel like God has forgiven you. Well, if you sincerely asked him to in the name of Jesus and through his shed blood, then he had to forgive you or he would be a liar—and God is not a liar. So, maybe you just don't feel forgiven. That's where you must ignore those feelings and live by faith.

 

When the enemy comes to haunt you with those past sins, quote 1 John 1:9 over and over—out loud if possible: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

 

A third thing we need to get over is self-pity. Think of how the enemy uses self-pity in our lives.

 

·           Almost always, pity parties cause us to waste time. 

 

·           Not only do pity parties waste our time, they also waste our energy.

 

·           Have you noticed this? When you throw a pity party, your imagination runs wild.  You start thinking about what someone has done or what has happened, and in your mind it becomes a lot worse than it really is. That, of course, causes you to over-react to it.

 

·           Then what often happens is that relationships are damaged. When we're feeling sorry for ourselves, we often say and do things that hurt others, things we regret later on. But once those things are said and done, it may be too late to undo the damage. Self-pity can cause irreparable damage to relationships.

 

These are just some of the common results of pity parties. Do you see why I say that we should get over pity parties? But how do we do that?

 

Ask God to give you holy anger about pity parties, to see them as he sees them, and to get sick and tired of feeling sorry for yourself. 

 

Hebrews 12:2 says "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..." By a set of your will, stop thinking about poor me, and think about Jesus—fix the eyes of your heart on him.

 

Don't just sit there; do something! This is one time you need to get involved in constructive activity that will take your mind off of your hurt feelings and shut down that pity party.

 

Don’t you think a lot of us need to get over comparing ourselves to others? God has created each of us with unique personalities, gifts and abilities. No two of us is alike, and God never compares us, one against the other. We learn this principle in the parable of the talents, as found in Matthew 25. In this story Jesus makes it clear that the three men were given three different resources—one received five talents, one two talents, and another received only one talent. And when the master evaluated what they did with their resources, the first two received the same reward, even though one ended up with ten talents and one with only four. But they both were very good stewards of what had been given to them.

 

The one man with only one talent did nothing with his, and the master strongly rebuked him for this. I’m sure this guy looked at the other two and figured he couldn’t do much with only one talent; if he had two or five, it would be different, but with just one to work with, he simply gave up. And his condemnation from the master, as Jesus tells the story, was very strong.

 

The message Jesus was sending is that he never compares us with other people; rather he looks at where we started and where we ended—what we did with what we were given. And if you and I are good stewards of what we have, we will receive his commendation.

 

Yet, we are so prone to compare ourselves to others, and that leads us either to be proud that we have more or can do more than others, or more often, it leads us to feel sorry for ourselves, get down on ourselves, or just shift the blame and give up!

 

I really want to strongly encourage you to get over it! Stop comparing yourselves to others. Instead, appreciate how God has created you, make sure you multiply the gifts he has given you, do the very best you can with what you have, and know that God will never compare you with other people. That’s a human tendency, but it isn’t the way God works!

 

Did you ever work with someone or maybe live with someone who complained all the time? If so, you probably wanted to tell that person, “Get over it!”

 

You know, we can slip into complaining mode so easily without realizing it. Before you know it, you’re complaining about the weather, complaining about your job, complaining about your boss, complaining about how much work you have to do—etc., etc., etc.

 

Here’s my challenge to you: For one day make a commitment that you will get through that entire day without complaining about anything. Not one negative, complaining word will come out of your mouth. Pray Ephesians 4:29, like this, “Lord, today I pray that no unwholesome talk will come out of my mouth, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that I may benefit those who listen.”

 

Then notice how many times during the day you start to complain—it will probably surprise you to discover that it happens more frequently than you thought it would be. I have done this myself, and I was shocked to see how often I said or thought complaining words. But once the Holy Spirit began to make me sensitive to my complaining tendency, then through his power I began to change.

 

I still have to watch it, believe me, because none of us ever gets beyond the tendency to complain. But Paul wrote to the Philippians that we are to rejoice in the Lord always, and we are to be thankful in all circumstances. Rejoicing and being thankful will keep you from complaining.

 

So, if you tend to complain a lot—or even a little—my word to you is, “Get over it!” Put it behind you. Move on to the good things God has done for you. It will transform you, and those who have to work or live with you will notice the difference.

 

 

Well, for sure we need to take seriously this idea that we should “get over” some things in our lives that are holding us back. Hebrews 12:1 says we are to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” It may be a small thing, but if it is hindering you from running the race God has marked out for you, then it’s keeping you from much of the joy and peace that is ours in Christ. So, please, ask God to help you get over it—whatever it is that is entangling you—and start running your race full speed ahead.