What Is Forgiveness and Why You Should Forgive?
Ever heard of the famous quote, ‘To err is human; to forgive divine? Well, you must have. These words were said by the famous poet Alexander Pope. We, humans, are flawed, and when in a relationship, we do end up making mistakes. These mistakes can often lead to sorrow, disagreements, strife, and feeling betrayed. Therefore, as humans, we should always remember these three important lessons: Tolerance, acceptance, and forgiveness. Although the ultimate power of forgiveness is on God, you and I can also learn to forgive. Because forgiveness will help us avoid resentment and bitterness and salvage the relationships close to our heart.
What Is Forgiveness?
Ever wondered what forgiveness means? Forgiveness just isn’t about saying sorry and letting go. It is so much more than just lip service.
Forgiveness, simply put, is the idea of letting yourself come to terms and make peace with the person who wronged you or gave you pain. It is the process of allowing yourself to let go of all the negativity and pain you have inside for others or yourself that has harmed you emotionally or physically.
But always remember forgiving someone doesn’t mean you forget how the person wronged you. Because let’s face it, it takes us weeks, months, and sometimes even years to forget what we went through.
Why Is Forgiveness Important?
Forgiving is important, but why? Well below are mentioned three reasons that will help you understand why forgiveness is important:
Helps Us Get Some Perspective
Ever felt overwhelmed and like you are being attacked when angry? Well, don’t worry, you are not alone. This happens to the best of us. You feel like retaliating and attack back, and ultimately both the parties end up overreacting over small, petty issues. Well, although it is completely okay to react when you feel you are being wronged, it is not okay to exaggerate the circumstances. So instead of holding on to the grudge and making a big deal out of it, learn to forgive. Forgiveness will not only help to clear your mind but also help you view the situation differently. What Is Forgiveness?
Ever wondered what forgiveness means? Forgiveness just isn’t about saying sorry and letting go. It is so much more than just lip service.
Forgiveness, simply put, is the idea of letting yourself come to terms and make peace with the person who wronged you or gave you pain. It is the process of allowing yourself to let go of all the negativity and pain you have inside for others or yourself that has harmed you emotionally or physically.
But always remember forgiving someone doesn’t mean you forget how the person wronged you. Because let’s face it, it takes us weeks, months, and sometimes even years to forget what we went through.
Why Is Forgiveness Important?
Forgiving is important, but why? Well below are mentioned three reasons that will help you understand why forgiveness is important:
- Helps Us Get Some Perspective
Ever felt overwhelmed and like you are being attacked when angry? Well, don’t worry, you are not alone. This happens to the best of us. You feel like retaliating and attack back, and ultimately both the parties end up overreacting over small, petty issues. Well, although it is completely okay to react when you feel you are being wronged, it is not okay to exaggerate the circumstances. So instead of holding on to the grudge and making a big deal out of it, learn to forgive. Forgiveness will not only help to clear your mind but also help you view the situation differently.
2. Gets Rid of Toxic Anger
Ever felt drained because you are holding on to anger for too long? Well, staying angry ends up sucking your valuable time and energy. Not to mention you might end up taking out that anger on other people, including your kids. And that’s not all anger ends up becoming toxic and taking a toll on your health. Holding onto a grudge ultimately ruins your chance at living a happy life. It is like giving up control of your life to someone else. Therefore forgiving the person is important as it helps you regain power over your own life.
3. Makes You More Compassionate
Forgiving the people who wronged you makes you more compassionate. Always remember people don’t hurt each other intentionally. Most people tend to have deep-seated problems that end up pushing them to the edge. And this is why forgiving is so important because it makes you less selfish and the bigger person. None of us are perfect. We are all human, and we all make mistakes. Be it unintentionally or intentionally. And sometimes cutting people out might seem like the easier route. But the truth is you are not free from the pain and resentment until and unless you learn to forgive. After all, forgiveness is all about letting go of all the bitterness inside us and focusing on the beauty of life.
Forgiveness is an integral part of life. As we learn to forgive others, we will be helping ourselves. You make an excellent point that we give up our time, energy, and happiness when we cannot ignore it and move on. I always think it is vital to forgive ourselves for things we did in the past to have a better future.
Sometimes we are trapped by our past mistakes, this prevents us from reaching our true potential. Our past should not prevent us from having all what is meant to be ours.
I agree, forgiveness is incredibly important, and both the acts of asking, and of granting forgiveness are lost in today’s world. Do you think forgiveness can come as a physical act as well? There are many times that I’ve forgiven someone, or been forgiven over a cup of coffee or the like. My mom always had a saying: “I did it, I’m sorry, what can I do to make it better?”. Do you have insights or suggestions on what we can do to act when forgiving or seeking forgiveness?
Forgiveness can be a physical act, the individual can buy the other person flowers or even take them to dinner. That is not just verbal but physical. Christians pray about the situation for clarity, we are humans and will make mistakes. Seeking guidance from the almighty is the best thing we can do.
Hi and thank you for the awesome post!! I really enjoyed reading this post because it deals with something I struggle with every day, forgiving others. I was actually talking to someone about this a few days ago because I told them that I often deal with the sin of wrath. Do you think forgiving would help me overcome that sin?
Forgiveness can help overcome wrath, you will be managing your anger and eventually be a stronger individual. Thank you for reading this article
Thank you for the article. I stumbled upon your blog and found this topic very interesting. Yes, forgiveness is important, especially when you are in a relationship and you want it to work. But it is hard to forgive sometimes, it depends on the wrong that was made to us. In my opinion there are things that are forgivable, but others are not. And this last case you risk to become a martyr (which is not always positive).
Forgiveness makes you a better person, it may not be easy. Relationships will come and go, just like life. Not because you have forgiven someone, that mean you have to stay in their circle.
As a Christian, I was always taught that we should forgive others just like God does with us. None of us is perfect, and we will disagree with others and say or do things that hurt others. What really matters is that we take responsibility, ask for forgiveness, and not repeat the same mistake.
When we forgive, we liberate ourselves. When we let spite and other negative feelings take over our hearts, we are imprisoned inside our bodies.
Your post was really inspired me. God bless.
May god bless you also