5 Minutes with Jesus is a daily devotional series for people in the midst of real life, whether facing anxiety, grief, questions of purpose, or simply needing encouragement and connection. Hosted by Sheila Walsh, each five-minute episode offers Biblical truth, honest reflections on faith and emotions, and closes with a moment of prayer.
Closed captions
Show Timecode
| Sheila Walsh: Letting Go of the Past | 5 Minutes with Jesus | January 2, 2026
- You have a
- 00:00:01.015 --> 00:00:02.083
- Father who adores you, who delights in everything
- 00:00:02.083 --> 00:00:04.685
- About your laugh, who celebrates your gifts,
- 00:00:04.685 --> 00:00:07.955
- And who catches every tear that falls from your eyes.
- 00:00:07.955 --> 00:00:11.358
- Well, his love
- 00:00:11.725 --> 00:00:12.960
- Will give you the courage to live your life without fear.
- 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:16.630
- You get to bring your burdens to the cross
- 00:00:16.630 --> 00:00:19.100
- And leave them there because you are loved.
- 00:00:19.100 --> 00:00:27.007
- Do you ever feel weighed down by your life?
- 00:00:27.875 --> 00:00:31.545
- You know, perhaps you're weighed down by events in your past.
- 00:00:31.545 --> 00:00:34.715
- And my heart aches as i think of the time that we
- 00:00:34.715 --> 00:00:37.051
- As god's children have lost living in regret.
- 00:00:37.051 --> 00:00:40.955
- Christ died to put us right with god.
- 00:00:40.955 --> 00:00:43.724
- He paid for the crushing debt that caused a breach
- 00:00:43.724 --> 00:00:46.660
- In our relationship with the father.
- 00:00:46.660 --> 00:00:49.430
- And so often we spend our lives in debtor's court
- 00:00:49.430 --> 00:00:52.900
- As if the bill was still to be paid.
- 00:00:52.900 --> 00:00:55.336
- But christ declares that when
- 00:00:55.970 --> 00:00:57.238
- You place your trust in him, you are free.
- 00:00:57.238 --> 00:01:00.774
- You just have to choose to let go of the past.
- 00:01:00.774 --> 00:01:04.879
- I'm often drawn back to these words of christ
- 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:07.348
- We find at the end of matthew chapter 11.
- 00:01:07.348 --> 00:01:11.118
- Then jesus said, come to me, all of you who are weary
- 00:01:11.118 --> 00:01:16.524
- And carry heavy burdens, and i will give you rest.
- 00:01:16.524 --> 00:01:20.528
- Take my yoke upon you.
- 00:01:21.028 --> 00:01:23.030
- Let me teach you.
- 00:01:23.030 --> 00:01:24.431
- Because i'm humble and gentle at heart,
- 00:01:24.431 --> 00:01:27.434
- And you will find rest for your souls.
- 00:01:27.434 --> 00:01:30.037
- For my yoke is easy to bear.
- 00:01:30.037 --> 00:01:32.907
- And the burden i give you is light.
- 00:01:32.907 --> 00:01:35.976
- Let me ask you, what burdens
- 00:01:36.544 --> 00:01:38.445
- Are you carrying right now?
- 00:01:38.445 --> 00:01:40.981
- You might be imprisoned by unforgiveness.
- 00:01:40.981 --> 00:01:44.218
- You know, we live in a fallen planet for terrible
- 00:01:44.218 --> 00:01:46.921
- Injustices rained down on us, often from the least prepared.
- 00:01:46.921 --> 00:01:51.425
- And when the wound
- 00:01:51.859 --> 00:01:52.993
- Comes from the hand of someone we trusted, the pain
- 00:01:52.993 --> 00:01:55.563
- And resulting anger can be crippling.
- 00:01:55.563 --> 00:01:58.832
- I've discovered that one of the most powerful spiritual weapons
- 00:01:58.832 --> 00:02:02.403
- God has tucked into our arsenal is the gift of forgiveness.
- 00:02:02.403 --> 00:02:07.474
- Revenge might make
- 00:02:07.908 --> 00:02:08.909
- Us feel powerful, but it handicaps us.
- 00:02:08.909 --> 00:02:12.746
- It's one of the most difficult things to let go of.
- 00:02:12.746 --> 00:02:16.483
- Perhaps that's why when we learn, by god's grace,
- 00:02:16.483 --> 00:02:18.953
- To let go of revenge and to embrace freedom,
- 00:02:18.953 --> 00:02:22.356
- The freedom that we get is outrageous.
- 00:02:22.356 --> 00:02:25.593
- In contrast.
- 00:02:25.593 --> 00:02:27.394
- But perhaps you're plagued by recurring habits
- 00:02:27.394 --> 00:02:29.797
- That seem to keep you
- 00:02:29.797 --> 00:02:30.965
- From being the woman or the man that you want to be.
- 00:02:30.965 --> 00:02:34.235
- Have you given your weaknesses the food they most desire?
- 00:02:34.235 --> 00:02:37.037
- Which of course is always secrecy.
- 00:02:37.037 --> 00:02:39.640
- There are freedom and deliverance available
- 00:02:39.640 --> 00:02:41.976
- From every act of behavior you hide.
- 00:02:41.976 --> 00:02:44.945
- And not only that, but grace
- 00:02:44.945 --> 00:02:46.680
- To love and accept yourself in the process.
- 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:49.917
- Secrecy.
- 00:02:50.150 --> 00:02:50.884
- Cellmate is shame.
- 00:02:50.884 --> 00:02:53.554
- Shame tells you you don't belong to a hopelessly flawed.
- 00:02:53.554 --> 00:02:57.858
- That you're not worth loving or saving.
- 00:02:57.858 --> 00:03:00.427
- But christ death on the cross
- 00:03:00.427 --> 00:03:02.062
- For you is a deafening cry to the contrary.
- 00:03:02.062 --> 00:03:05.833
- The lamb of god became shame
- 00:03:05.833 --> 00:03:08.902
- So that you can become god's beloved child.
- 00:03:08.902 --> 00:03:13.040
- Don't know if you ever
- 00:03:13.540 --> 00:03:14.675
- Find yourself questioning the purpose of your life.
- 00:03:14.675 --> 00:03:17.278
- I mean, does it really matter that you work so hard
- 00:03:17.278 --> 00:03:19.380
- At taking care of your family?
- 00:03:19.380 --> 00:03:21.215
- Does anyone really care that you conduct
- 00:03:21.215 --> 00:03:23.117
- All your business with integrity and honor?
- 00:03:23.117 --> 00:03:26.287
- As you wait in line to wash your hands in the ladies
- 00:03:26.287 --> 00:03:28.656
- Restroom on sunday morning,
- 00:03:28.656 --> 00:03:30.624
- Do the women gossiping in front of you know or care
- 00:03:30.624 --> 00:03:33.827
- That you are the one who put fresh soap in
- 00:03:33.827 --> 00:03:35.963
- The dispensers and fresh flowers on the counter?
- 00:03:35.963 --> 00:03:39.700
- In a culture that worships charisma over character,
- 00:03:39.700 --> 00:03:44.571
- I want to remind you that your life matters to god.
- 00:03:44.571 --> 00:03:48.742
- It's as if we've been kind of let in on a divine joke,
- 00:03:48.742 --> 00:03:51.745
- Where what seems to matter doesn't matter at all.
- 00:03:51.745 --> 00:03:55.516
- And thanks to our culture brushes under the carpet,
- 00:03:55.516 --> 00:03:58.152
- An insignificant service
- 00:03:58.152 --> 00:04:00.387
- Will one day be revealed to be pure gold.
- 00:04:00.387 --> 00:04:04.191
- When god pulls back the carpets at
- 00:04:04.191 --> 00:04:07.361
- One of the greatest spiritual gifts,
- 00:04:08.162 --> 00:04:09.697
- When we give our lives to christ is that we have fresh eyes
- 00:04:09.697 --> 00:04:13.267
- To look into and see how much we are treasured.
- 00:04:13.267 --> 00:04:16.670
- We have you have a father who adores you, who delights in
- 00:04:16.670 --> 00:04:20.441
- Everything about your laugh, who celebrates your gifts,
- 00:04:20.441 --> 00:04:24.044
- And who catches every tear that falls from your eyes.
- 00:04:24.044 --> 00:04:27.448
- Well, his love
- 00:04:27.815 --> 00:04:29.049
- Will give you the courage to live your life without fear.
- 00:04:29.049 --> 00:04:32.720
- You get to bring your burdens to the cross
- 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:35.189
- And leave them there because you are loved.
- 00:04:35.189 --> 00:04:40.027
- Let's pray.
- 00:04:40.361 --> 00:04:42.496
- Father, i want to thank you
- 00:04:42.496 --> 00:04:44.631
- That even though we at times carry heavy burdens around
- 00:04:44.631 --> 00:04:48.235
- That, you've promised us that we can bring our burdens
- 00:04:48.235 --> 00:04:50.838
- To you and lay them down,
- 00:04:50.838 --> 00:04:53.907
- And that the yoke that you bear is easy,
- 00:04:53.907 --> 00:04:56.543
- That your burdens are light.
- 00:04:56.543 --> 00:04:58.712
- So today, lord, in an act of faith,
- 00:04:58.712 --> 00:05:01.248
- We choose to leave our burdens at your feet
- 00:05:01.248 --> 00:05:03.751
- And to only carry what you have given us to carry.
- 00:05:03.751 --> 00:05:07.287
- In jesus name,
- 00:05:07.287 --> 00:05:09.223
- Amen.
- 00:05:09.456 --> 00:05:09.456
