Forgiving the Unforgivable

Forgiveness remains to be a challenging yet important aspect of our daily lives. I believe we can all attest to the fact that at some point in our  lives we were in dire need of forgiveness from those we had wronged. Also, there were those who needed us to forgive them and accept them back to our lives. But how often do we forgive people? How many times have we hung on hurt caused by others and failed to forgive them? I believe its many times and its understandable because we are humans. But, it is good to realise that forgiveness is important, and when we fail to forgive; we burden our hearts and thus lack peace.

Before anything else, lets all agree that there is no such thing as forgiving and forgetting. The same way you remember the day you fell while in school and everyone laughed at you, its the same way you can remember pain caused by other people.  Its not possible to forget events that shook us emotionally, mentally and even physically; especially if the culprit was someone very close to us. But we need to also agree and accept that it is possible to forgive and let go of such events. 

Forgiving is not easy. It takes courage. It means letting bygones be bygones and embracing the present. It means giving a second chance. Most importantly, it means giving yourself some peace of mind and peace for your soul.

It is important to realise that when we forgive we do not do it for those who hurt us but we do it for our own good. As i said before, lack of forgiveness grants us burden in our hearts.  

I believe that we all know the story of Joseph; his brothers were jealous of him. First they threw him into a pit and lied to their father Jacob that Joseph had died. Finally they sold him as a slave just because he was Jacob's favoured. But even after what his brothers put him through, he still managed to forgive and welcomed them to live with him in Egypt. Well Joseph did demonstrate an act of courage by forgiving his brothers. It is neither hard for us to do the same.

Jesus embraced forgiveness. When Peter asked him how many times he should forgive a brother or sister who has wronged him, Jesus told him seventy seven times (Matthew 18:21-22). Sounds impossible right? Its like trying to break a huge hard rock with a kitchen knife! Funny enough, its not. It's easy for you to choose not to forgive simply because you are the victim. However, if you put yourself in your brother's shoes, you realise how important forgiveness is. Try to be on the other side. Ask yourself, 'how would i feel if someone refused to forgive me?' I'm guessing you do not like the feeling you just imagined. 

God encourages us to forgive others as the same will be done to us by Him when we fall into sin. If God can forgive our transgressions, who are we not to forgive our fellow men? The Bible says that no one is righteousness under the sun apart from Him. Even our religious leaders make mistakes and they have to seek for forgiveness. 

One thing that hinders us from forgiving is pride; others would refer to it as ego. With this in our hearts, its difficult to forgive others. We should learn to embrace humility and the fact that we can also be on the other side of seeking forgiveness. 

In moments when you have difficulty in forgiving someone, seek for God's intervention and He will surely help you through. Ask Him to enlighten your heart and take the burden of unforgiveness from you. God says that He has created us in His own likeliness; meaning that if He can forgive us, we can also forgive others.

Life is long enough when we live in harmony but not long enough for us to hold grudges against each other and carry unforgiveness burdens with us. 

Truth be told; people are going to do us wrong and is up to us to decide whether we are going to forgive and move or fail to forgive and be stuck at one place for the rest of our lives. 

Change your mantra today to : Forgive and Move On...