FORGIVENESS IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL
What does the word forgiveness mean?
Forgiveness is a conscious decision to let go of resentment and thoughts of revenge.
We are human beings and we wrong each other either purposely or unknowingly. People will do things to hurt you and make you feel like you can never possibly let go and so you hold a grudge for however long. It is very understandable to feel hurt or betrayed, however, the problem is that a lot of times the other party may not realize this or quite frankly does not care about your feelings and as a result they are doing their own thing and enjoying their lives while you are wallowing in your misery, in your little corner cringing and sinking in your anger. Even worse sometimes we are our own worse enemies. We cannot forgive ourselves for things that happened in our past that we choose to blame ourselves for.
Don't let hate and anger consume you. Live and let live. Set yourself free from these feelings .
How can I do that you may ask? Start by confronting the source of the anger if need be (e.g if it was an argument, betrayal etc), communicate your feeling as civil as you possibly can with the other party, try to come to an understanding and then let it go. Yes, the person you are trying to reconcile with may be resistant to your efforts but do your part and find it in your heart to let it go and pray that they come around. If you had a little misunderstanding with someone or have hard feelings against someone else just because you feel like it then suck it up and let it go, its not even worth it. Trust me I know it is not easy to forgive if someone has wronged you, our natural instinct is more likely to want to seek a revenge but God forgives us regularly when we sin against him, how much more us forgiving each other. He has made his grace available to us and we just need to ask him for the grace, humility and strength to forgive and move on.
I have been in some situations where I am so tempted to hold a grudge but the moment I choose to let go I feel like a ton of bricks have been lifted off my shoulder. I am sure some of you can attest to the feeling of this great relief. The truth is that you cannot change what has happened in the past but you can make a big impact on your tomorrow. Do not let the bad experiences from the past affect your future by keeping you bitter, angry and robbing you of all the happiness and freedom you deserve.
When you are able to forgive you can form healthier relationships, have less stress and hostility, lower your blood pressure, feel less pain and depression and overall you are a much happier person.
You should try this out sometime! Let go, be at peace and free yasef!!!
until next time people....
It takes a lot of energy to hold a grudge or stay angry at someone/something. Yes we may feel the urge to not forgive, but hey it's one less thing to worry about when you do. So I say give it a try. Nice piece Victoria. Keep them coming baby.
ReplyDeleteDo I hear church bells ringing??? I must have because this sounds like a very good sermon but I respectfully beg to differ because "why can't we all just get along" does not always apply to reality. There are some situations that you just cant forgive the person. For example, If someone kills my entire family, I'm not gonna "confront the source...and talk about it...the weight just falls off.
ReplyDeleteAwesome truth. @ Miami do i hear you say "church bells"? This is the truth of life and it has absolutely nothing to do with church bells. I do however understand your point with the example that you have given. All in all, Great job Vicky and keep it coming, you have all my support.
ReplyDeleteI never said that Vicky is not right...as a matter of fact,"confronting the source of the anger...communicating your feelings in a civil manner and coming to an understanding and then let it go" is just about the best thing you can do for yourself>So with that said, Vicky is absolutey right...just not in all situations..."let's all get along" just don't cut it all the time.
ReplyDelete#goodjobvicky#
You raised up a very valid point Miami, I absolutely see your point of view. You having to forgive someone who does something as extreme as killing your whole family would be a very tough bone to chew and is an extreme case. Of course we are supposed to forgive but that will be much harder to do and will need a lot and I repeat "a lot" of grace from God. Overall when I thought and wrote about this topic I had in mind that we need to start from somewhere. It's not just about "let's all get along" of course that would be totally awesome and the world would be a much better place but it is also about just letting go of anger that has a hold on you and being at peace with yourself.That being said thanks Chioma and Miami for your comments.
ReplyDeleteYou are absoluely right Vicky!! The analogy about a ton of brick being lifted off your shoulder perfectly explains forgiveness,because you will be confering a great advantage to yourself in all fronts( Psychologically, Physically, Emotionally, Spiritually & even Financially) when you forgive. Thumbs up my girl!!!
ReplyDeleteNice piece Vicky. I once saw a quote which I thought was so appropriate when it comes to the topic of forgiveness. It says “To forgive is to set a prisoner free only to discover that the prisoner was you”. As you said, holding a grudge affects you more than it affects the other person, it isn't worth the stress!
ReplyDelete@ Miami, of a truth, there is nothing that can't be forgiven. Believe me, to hold a grudge is such a weight that only those who intend not to go for carry. Not to forgive has more harm to the one who holds unto this act. It cuts short your productive thinking capacity and you'll have your nuisance value increase,it makes you vulnerable and an easy prey for negative thoughts. Further more, it alters your perspective, cuts short your capacity to develop human network thereby impeding the enlargement of 'your circle of influence'. So, let it go.
ReplyDeleteKeep it up Tas!