On Forgiveness.

This post was originally written several years ago when the topic of forgiveness was at the forefront of my life. I thought I would share what I wrote then.

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What do you think is required for forgiveness to take place? If you need to forgive someone, does the person need to know you are forgiving them? What if you need to forgive someone for something that they don't even know they did? Do you think that in order for forgiveness to be complete it must be between you and that person or do you think that simply making a vow of forgiveness between you and God is enough?

This whole idea of forgiveness has been on my mind lately. I've learned over the last little while that forgiveness is not something that you feel, it is a pivotal choice that one must make. It is a fork in the road, a point you come to where you must decide to live with the hurt and the pain or to move on and not let it control you anymore. I have learned that forgiveness is the most freeing of choices, it allows you to let go of things that have been holding you captive and to love people that you would otherwise be bitter toward.

The other thing about forgiveness is this... you can't be proud and still forgive. You must humble yourself and realize that the issue is not about what someone has done to you, but the issue is about what is going inside your heart and that the healing begins with you, not with the person saying sorry. It's difficult to come to the point of realization that you must forgive no matter how much someone "owes" you an apology and whether or not you ever receive that apology.

I think of Jesus on the cross, asking God to forgive the men who hung Him there. That is the perfect example of forgiveness. Jesus showed us that forgiveness is not about the attitude of the one whom we are forgiving but that it begins with us.

I have come to realize that unforgiveness is not only a burden that we carry around with us day in and day out but it is also a spiritual epidemic that prevents us from worshipping God fully and prevents us from receiving the full blessings of God in our lives. If you think about it, those who refuse to forgive are the walking wounded, they live the life of a victim, rather than the life of freedom that God calls us to.

Forgiveness is something that we are taught at a young age, but it's something that very few people practice in their life. Why is that?

Just my two cents.