Steem4nigeria Accelerator Contest Week 21: The power of Forgiveness

Forgiveness, one of the things people find difficult to do. But having a heart of forgiveness is one valuable quality that can give peace of mind and long life.

What do you understand by the word "Forgiveness"?

Forgiveness, I believe means the ability to let go of the wrong someone has dine to you. It means not holding against someone, the hurtful things he/she gas dine to you. Forgiving someone entails a lot. It means looking passed the wicked acts someone showed unto you. It could be that maybe you've received a lot of insults and hurtful words from that person. Or such person treated you very badly. But that very act of ignoring g all the wrongs that person has shown unto you and living in perfect peace and harmony with that person is what forgiveness is all about.

Why do you think forgiveness is important in maintaining healthy relationships? Give 3 importance.

Forgiveness is one vital quality one must possess to maintain a healthy relationship. The reason is because;

1. FORGIVENESS BRINGS ABOUT PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE:

Source

In life, as far as we come in contact with people everyday, there is a 99% chance of someone offending us. Since that cannot be avoidable, the best option is to make room for offences and forgive even before hand. Keeping a grudge in your heart against someone can kill you slowly and painfully. It in a way, shortens the life span of an individual.

However, when we open our hearts to forgive even before the offence is even committed as people will always step on our toes. It makes room for peaceful coexistence. There will be harmony and easy flow of relationship between individuals. Because it shows that we can tolerate one another

2. FORGIVENESS PROMOTES POSITIVITY

When one carries a grudge against someone, such person gradually becomes bitter and angry. You see negative vibes flowing around such person. That is what unforgiveness do. However forgiveness takes away bitterness. It brings with it peace of mind and positive feelings and emotions. In every relationship, it is very important to forgive one another because unforgiveness creates an atmosphere of hate and bitterness. And when there is a feeling of hate or bitterness between individuals in a relationship, such relationship is bound to crash.


On the other hand, frequently forgiving one another brings about positive vibes and feelings which promotes the growth of that relationship.

3. FORGIVENESS BRINGS ABOUT CHANGE

The truth is that, there is a way someone can offend you, having done so many wicked and hurtful things to you. And probably despite that you still forgave such person. You looked passed his/her errors and actions and still forgave that alone can cause such individual to rethink his ways and change especially if tomorrow you are in a better position to help that individual. Forgiveness, one of of hardest things people find difficult to do cab change even he most wicked of heart.

Have you ever faced challenges in forgiving someone? How did you overcome them

Some of the challenges i faced trying to forgive someone includes;

• It was hard to let go
• I kept on remembering the wrong the person did to me.
  
  
  To forgive is surely not an easy task. When I was faced with all these challenges. At a point i came to realise that keeping grudges does not do any good. Rather what it does is that, it gives the offender more power over you. I realised that no human is perfect so we should forgive each other.
  I worked on myself and now I forgive even before the offence has been committed.
  
  

Can you share a personal experience where forgiveness played a significant role in your life or the life of someone you know?

One experience i can never forget was yhe time, a friend of mine went for a job interview. At that time it was difficult to get a good job and there were so many applicants for the job it was almost impossible for her to succeed in getting he job. When it was her turn. It turns out the person interviewing her was someone she showed mercy on a few yeas back. That person wronged her and her family but they were able to forgive him. So upon seeing her he just gave her the job. She didn't even do the interview.

What do you make of the statement "Love and Forgiveness are twin that cannot be separated". How true is that?

When you love someone, you forgive them. It becomes a second nature to you. You look pass their errors and mistake and forgive them because you cherish and love them. After all no human is perfect. We all make mistake. So the statement " Love and forgiveness are twins that cannot be separated is indeed true.


I invite @yhudy, @smartlouis and @ngoenyi to participate in this contest.

Cc:@sahmie