Forgiveness is a tough word. If I feel I can't forgive (because I was wronged and the thing can never be made right) I could at least let it go and have it stop affecting me.
When I think of forgiveness I think of having "forgiven" only one person in my life. That situation was beyond my ability to fix. All I could think of was that God would make things right. Eventually, I was able to forgive the person (although they never asked for my forgiveness) and genuinely love them. If I hadn't forgiven them I would have felt their control in my mind and it would have affected me for as long as I let it.
I used to be controlled by unfair things and cry when I saw bad things happen to people. I saw them as injustices and wanted them corrected. They made me feel the control my own situation had over me. I felt sad.
My personal injustice could only be remedied by not letting the thing that controlled me do that any more. I let it go and didn't even hold a grudge. I felt happy. I took a stand and told the person I would no longer sweep their lies under the rug. It didn't stop them from being them but it allowed me to be me.
It's not true that I've only forgiven one time. I've let many things go and not allowed them to affect me. Life is full of unfair things but I believe that God will make things right.
I just watched my church's general conference and one of the speakers said that if you are contentious then Stop It! He was talking about siblings quarreling or fighting. He made me think about how I felt contentious about some things. He said that even if you feel you're right you should stop fighting. I thought about how I felt right about the things that made me mad and how even though I felt right I needed to stop feeling angry.
I realized that anger was like a spreading cancer and the only way to get rid of it was to eliminate it...to stop it...to let it go. I let my anger go and could see how bitter I'd become. I could see how my upset feelings had hurt other people and not just affected me.
I believe that forgiveness and letting things go is not for the other person but for me. The other person may not even think they did anything wrong. They will probably never ask me for forgiveness. They may never see my point but God will. He will be on my side and make things right. When I'm able to let unfair things go I live in the moment instead of the past. When I stand up to wrong things I don't allow them to control me. When I hold grudges and don't let things go, they fester, grow, and spread like cancer. I say let it go and be happy!
When I think of forgiveness I think of having "forgiven" only one person in my life. That situation was beyond my ability to fix. All I could think of was that God would make things right. Eventually, I was able to forgive the person (although they never asked for my forgiveness) and genuinely love them. If I hadn't forgiven them I would have felt their control in my mind and it would have affected me for as long as I let it.
I used to be controlled by unfair things and cry when I saw bad things happen to people. I saw them as injustices and wanted them corrected. They made me feel the control my own situation had over me. I felt sad.
My personal injustice could only be remedied by not letting the thing that controlled me do that any more. I let it go and didn't even hold a grudge. I felt happy. I took a stand and told the person I would no longer sweep their lies under the rug. It didn't stop them from being them but it allowed me to be me.
It's not true that I've only forgiven one time. I've let many things go and not allowed them to affect me. Life is full of unfair things but I believe that God will make things right.
I just watched my church's general conference and one of the speakers said that if you are contentious then Stop It! He was talking about siblings quarreling or fighting. He made me think about how I felt contentious about some things. He said that even if you feel you're right you should stop fighting. I thought about how I felt right about the things that made me mad and how even though I felt right I needed to stop feeling angry.
I realized that anger was like a spreading cancer and the only way to get rid of it was to eliminate it...to stop it...to let it go. I let my anger go and could see how bitter I'd become. I could see how my upset feelings had hurt other people and not just affected me.
I believe that forgiveness and letting things go is not for the other person but for me. The other person may not even think they did anything wrong. They will probably never ask me for forgiveness. They may never see my point but God will. He will be on my side and make things right. When I'm able to let unfair things go I live in the moment instead of the past. When I stand up to wrong things I don't allow them to control me. When I hold grudges and don't let things go, they fester, grow, and spread like cancer. I say let it go and be happy!
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