Forgiveness is a choice

This isn't a very good picture but you get the message.

FORGIVENESS !

For anyone who has been abused this is really a hard one. I am a Christian and I know that my faith teaches me that Forgiveness is an essential requirement and one that I wrestled with for a long time. The very thought of forgiving the people who had caused me so much pain aroused extreme anger in me.

 

I have had to forgive many people in my life. Some who were directly responsible for my abuse from childhood right into adulthood and some people who worsened my pain with their judgment and criticism. People who I had never even met had strong opinions of me.

 

The only think that I can share is that FORGIVENESS takes time and people do need to be held accountable for what they have done. It is difficult to forgive someone who shows no remorse and hasn't owned up to the damage they have caused, but if we wait for that day it may never come and that is the sad truth.

 

Forgiveness is a choice we make, not for the other person but for ourselves. Begin with saying...I am willing to FORGIVE. When we make that statement we open up our hearts to a new way of thinking, a new way of responding and a new way of feeling. Unforgiveness and anger go hand in hand. Forgiveness and Peace do the same.