One Principle
One principle that I want to share that I have learned is forgiveness. That principle is tough to learn, but it can be learned. I don’t know anyone who has not wrestled with this principle, and that fact alone can be comforting. Mastering this principle is essential in the grand scheme of things because if we do not forgive, it will eat at us until we are consumed by hate and darkness.
Many scholars have written on the topic of forgiveness and I highly recommend those books if you have not read them.
In my personal life, I have had to deal with forgiveness. It is, of course, easy to say the words, but a lot harder to actually forgive. We can take comfort in knowing that forgiveness is within our reach, but we — of course — choose if we want to forgive those who have wronged us. We can also not forgive, and instead allow that pain to fester in us. The choice is ours. I choose to forgive. This is not to say that the other person who did wrong is innocent of that crime against me, or that the act was not wrong. Of course the other person is guilty and what happened was wrong. I still want justice served somehow, but my job is to forgive. This takes immense focus and strength! Even though forgiving others is super hard, it is worth it. The reward is infinitely glorious. We just need to, “turn the other cheek.” We need to have faith and hope that ALL of what was unfair and mean will be made right in the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7zwQ_7q-fU
The second part of this equation is, I believe, the hardest part. The other part of this formula is to forget the wrong that was done to you. The reason I think this is so hard is because all of us can say the words, “I forgive you.” It takes a strong person to really mean it. When that person says the words, “I forgive you” and then — after a time, or with that — goes past the wrong that was done…that takes real courage! It isn’t human nature to want to forget about the wrong that was committed against you, because we want justice and we want it now. This goes against what we want, this goes against what is called our natural man. We have to fight this impulse to want, even demand, justice now. I promise that somehow, someway, justice will be served and everything will be made right in the end. Call it karma or whatever you want, but it will happen in the end. We might need to wait for a long time to see the, “just desserts,” but let us not become deterred by this possibility. We need to get passed the wrongs that were done to us because if we don’t, the pain will immobilize us and we will be paralyzed to the point that we won’t be able to move forward. No matter how hard this part may be, it is essential to one day master. Life is full of heartaches and disappointments, but the reason we need to be practicing forgiving and forgetting is that it will make life a lot easier to live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5xtixOQRCU&t=3s
I promise that as we work on this: forgiving AND forgetting, life will be so much easier to live. We can be proud of ourselves for, “turning the other cheek.” We can even look back and be happy that we did not allow the other person who did us wrong to dictate our life. In essence, we can be free from the pain of carrying that wrong that was done to us! In my life, I am in no wise perfect at the second part of this equation. I just have mastered the first part. I am working on forgetting after a time.
