Embracing Forgiveness: Restoring Your Joy and Freedom

The Journey to Reclaiming Happiness and Inner Peace by Letting Go of Anger and Bitterness

God calls us to forgive, whether we want to or not…

And forgiveness isn’t about letting someone off the hook for what they did wrong. It’s about YOU. It’s about letting go of your anger and making peace with what happened to you so you can move forward and see the light again. Your best, most vibrant life is on the other side.

You don’t forgive for the sake of the offender. You forgive for God and yourself.

Jim L. Wilson said, “Forgiveness is the only way to keep the people that harmed you from turning you into them. The only way to break their control over you and what you think about is to forgive. Is it risky? Yes. Will they wrong you again? Probably… Why should you forgive those who harm you? One answer is so you can be obedient to Christ who commanded you to do it. Another is because it will help you physically, emotionally, and spiritually.”

When you don’t forgive, it’s you that’s drinking the poison. It’s you who goes to bed at night with negative thoughts running through your head, sleeps poorly, and then wakes up the next morning in a bad mood. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats the host.

I can say, “I don’t want to forgive because they hurt me and they deserve to suffer.” That may be true… But your hurting isn’t making them suffer. It’s making you suffer. While you’re sitting there whining and crying about how bad you feel, the person who hurt you may have forgotten they hurt you and is living life happy as a lark.

Meanwhile, you’re standing in your own way and letting the person who hurt you steal your happiness.

 W. Austin Gardner, Pain to Praise