Forgiveness & Letting Go
If you hold on to that pain, bitterness, resentment, and anger it is highly likely that you will be the one who pays most dearly.
By choosing forgiveness, you also can move towards experiencing peace and hope. Consider how forgiveness can lead you down the path of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.
Forgiveness means different things to different people. But in general, it involves an intentional decision to let go of resentment and anger.
Letting go can help free you from the control of the person who harmed you. Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting or excusing the harm done to you. The act that hurt or offended you might always be with you.
How do I move toward a state of forgiveness?
Forgiveness is a commitment to change. It takes practice. To move toward forgiveness, you might:
Identify what needs healing and who you want to forgive.
Acknowledge your emotions about the harm done to you, recognise how those emotions affect your behavior, and work to release them.
Choose to forgive the person who offended you.
Release the control and power that the offending person and situation have had in your life.
You may need to talk through the situation and feelings with a trusted person or counselor.
If you have faith in God you can pray that he helps you to forgive the person and ask him to be working in your life so that you can let go of the emotions that the hurt has bought into you.