Reviewing Forgiveness
The act of forgiving is so misunderstood.
One of the most difficult things it seems for me to remember is that there are no perfect people and I’m one of them.
My imperfection, in fact, includes my particular perspective on reality. How I see and interpret life experiences is always inaccurate. Yes, I was there when it happened. I saw and felt everything. But I didn’t understand everything. This is especially true when we are children.
This does not mean that what was experienced was not true and real. The wrong done may have been very wrong, but there still is an aspect of all of it, that is beyond comprehension.
The ability to move beyond the hurt, anger, humiliation, and shame that come with betrayals of trust are the result of time, grieving when necessary, prayer, and a clear decision to forgive.
Forgiveness is a learned discipline, but only as we actively practice turning over to God the responsibility of judging those who have harmed us.
One of my favorite videos explaining forgiveness comes out of PragerU.
These are brief instructional videos designed for those of college age. I have watched this one about once a year for the past eight years.
Let me know what you think.
Good wisdom.