Many of you know Whitt Madden who leads a ministry in Paducah called ‘Be The Domino.’. His wife Camillia is one of the team leaders at Community Kitchen. They are a great couple.

This post was written by Whitt and is a part of a regular monthly email he sends out. I really liked this one and wanted to share it with you…

Secret Domino
Giving in Secret
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:3

The idea is to give to others in secret. It’s about changing our focus from ourselves to a heart of giving for others. Each month we will present a different idea of a way that you can give to others and share the love of Christ. Being the domino means being willing to be used by God for His purposes to touch the lives of others. Secret domino is simply a way to give you ideas on how you can do this. So let’s get started!

Give the gift of forgiveness

For if you forgive people their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6: 14 AMP

Shifting gears again this month, our secret domino email this month is focusing on giving the gift of forgiveness to others. I love the amplified version of this passage, it really drives home the point of what it is that we are letting go. We all have experienced hurt in our lives from others. Chances are we are still harboring some bitterness, some anger, resentment, and unforgiveness towards someone for something that has happened to us. There are several people in my own life that I have forgiven with my lips, but not in my heart. I’m not even sure why we want to hold on to that junk. All it does is keep us in bondage, and whether we realize it or not, that unforgiveness spills over into other relationships. If it was a trust that was broken, you are likely having a hard time trusting others. You are afraid of opening up to others because someone broke that trust with you in the past. You’ve probably said to yourself “Why would I want to risk opening up, and getting hurt again?” It might have been even a physical abuse that you’ve suffered in the past, perhaps someone hurt you phsyically, and you’ve kept it bottled up inside, holding on to that hurt, because nothing in you desires to forgive them for what they did to you.

Whenever I choose not to forgive someone for something they’ve done to me, it doesn’t take long for God to remind me of Jesus came to do on that cross. The hurt we’ve experienced in our lives drives us to say “they don’t deserve to be forgiven, for what they did to me.”, and honestly that is the point which we often miss. None of us deserve forgiveness for our sins! I picture Jesus hanging on the cross, bloodied, beaten, shamed, with a crown of thorns pushed deep into his brow, near to death. I imagine what He must have been thinking at that moment. How difficult it must have been to forgive them for what they had done to Him, yet what were His words? “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”

I think one of the most difficult things about forgiveness, is that it begins with a choice that we have to make. We have to choose forgiveness, it’s definitely not something that comes natural. So here is what I want us to focus on this month. We have a choice to forgive someone, right now, today. Spend some time in prayer over this. Author Neil Anderson gives a very thorough process to help us come to terms with our unforgiveness that I want to share with you this month.
Write on a sheet of paper the names of the person who offended you. Describe in writing the specific wrongs you suffered.
Face the hurt and the hate. Write down how you feel about these people and their offenses.
Acknowledge the significance of the cross. It is the cross of Christ that makes forgiveness legally and morally right.
Decide that you will bear the burden of each person’s sin (Gal. 6:1,2).
Decide to forgive. Forgiveness is a crisis of the will, a conscious choice to let the other person off the hook and free yourself from the past.
Take your list to God and pray the following: “I forgive (name) for (list the offenses).”
Destroy the list. You are now free.
Do not expect that your decision to forgive will result in major changes in the other persons.
Try to understand the people you have forgiven. They are victims also.
Expect positive results of forgiveness in you.
Thank God for the lessons you have learned and the maturity you have gained as a result of the offenses and your decision to forgive the offenders.
Be sure to accept your part of the blame for the offenses you suffered. Confess your failure to God and to others…
I went through these steps around 2 years ago, and through this process I found that there was 1 person that I had the most challenging and difficult time forgiving. Until I went through these steps, I could not forgive them. That person was me.

May Prayer Request
Please be in prayer for this ministry Chicks4orphans.

Secret Domino
A summary of previous Secret Domino activities.
April – April’s challenge was to take part in the 1 Child Challenge sponsored by CURE International. It required that you simply follow the story of a child’s surgery on the CUREKids website. For every child that you followed a sponsor gave $1 towards that surgery! Over 500 people took part in this challenge from around the world! If you participated in this via Secret Domino we want to thank you for being a part of something bigger! Over 50 kids will receive care!
March -For the month of March challenge yourself to use your words to encourage and build up others. (1 Thessalonians 5:11).Make a list of people who you personally know who do not know Jesus, who are discouraged right now. Spend time in prayer over how God might use you to encourage them. It could be a card, a letter, an email, a text, a hug, a shoulder to cry on. It could be a visit. God will reveal to you the best way that you can encourage them.
February – Commit to praying for someone every day for the month of February and journal your prayers for them. At the end of the month, mail them your prayer journal.
January – Anonymous gift cards getting mailed out, cookies on doorsteps, and being intentional to pray immediately with someone who asks for prayer. Lots of great ways to give to others!