The Heavy Cost of Unforgiveness
Exploring Scriptural Insights that Encourage Healing and Compassion
What happens when we don’t forgive?
The inability or refusal to forgive those who wronged us can have far-reaching consequences beyond the initial offense.
Unforgiveness takes a toll on our bodies and our minds.
Unforgiveness damages relationships, leads to isolation, and steals our ability to feel for others.
Our constant anger, hurt, and dwelling on what happened drained us of the energy needed for personal growth and satisfaction.
What does forgiving do for you if you are the offended party?
Forgiveness liberates you from the bitterness, anger, and resentment that hinders you from moving forward positively.
When you forgive, you take control of your emotional well-being and take the power out of the hands of others. They no longer dictate your feelings.
Forgiving means you think more about others than about yourself. This allows you to contribute positively to those around you.
Steps to forgiveness
Choose to forgive. Make a conscious decision to forgive.
Let it go! On purpose, focus your thoughts on growth and moving forward. Learn from the past and move into the future.
Commit to a continuous process. You must decide every time your hurt surfaces that you remember that you have forgiven.
Bible Verses to Consider
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32
Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Colossians 3:13
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Matthew 6:14-15
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Luke 6:37
21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Matthew 18:21-22
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Matthew 6:12
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans12:19–21
He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; But he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends. Proverbs 17:9
Quotes
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” Lewis B. Smedes
“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” Mark Twain
“Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.” Anne Lamott
“Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.” Hannah Arendt
“Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself.” Tony Robbins
“Forgiveness is the needle that knows how to mend.” Jewel
“Forgiveness is the economy of the heart... forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.” Hannah More
“Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.”
Marianne Williamson
“Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life.” George MacDonald
“Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.” William Arthur Ward
“The remedy for life’s broken pieces is not classes, workshops or books. Don’t try to heal the broken pieces. Just forgive.” Iyanla Vanzant