While growing up in junior school many years ago, there was this class we normally attended on Tuesdays after school as part of our extra-curricular classes. They taught us about human relationship, social interactions, etc. In one of the classes, the teacher made a particular statement that I still remember till now, he said "forgiveness is one of the best gifts that anyone can offer to their own self." When you remove the burden of revenge, anger and bitterness towards someone from your heart, it marks a form of freedom within you that cannot be explained but cannot also be denied. This is why I believe that forgiveness actually comes with true freedom.
It is worthy to note that forgiving someone for their wrongdoings does not mean you have welcomed the excuse the person gave to do you wrong or you have accepted the wrong itself. It does not also mean that you should restore back your friendship with the person if you do not want to - after all, it is by choice. More so, forgiveness is not supposed to put you back in a vulnerable position to be hurt again, but it should bring you inner piece. Forgiveness is about allowing yourself to let go of negative thoughts and feelings, and also to set others free in your mind. Holding someone in your mind also means putting yourself into captivity, but setting them free also means giving yourself freedom.
You will agree with me that each time you carry unforgiveness against someone in your heart, it has a way of weighing you down. This is because unforgiveness puts one in a path of mental pain, and it is also a weight. You also need to know that you do yourself the greater good by letting people go from your mind through forgiveness than holding them and then punishing yourself for their wrongdoings. It is true that people will offend you in manners you may not even expect, but it is now left for you to forgive. Weird enough, some of the people that offended you may not even be aware that they have erred, while others may not even care, but whichever case it is, try to forgive.
Forgiveness is a willing choice that one has to make in order to enjoy inner freedom. There is a good feeling that comes in the mind that leads to internal peace when you know that you are not harbouring unforgiveness for someone. Whether they have apologized or not, it does not matter, but for the sake of your own good, you have to learn to practice forgiveness. Not because they have done something to deserve your forgiveness - they may not even need it, but because you deserve peace so you need to forgive.
It has been said that forgiveness also improves the mental well-being of an individual. This is because it lightens the heart and clears the mind off offences. The truth remains that you cannot run away from offences as long as you keep meeting people, but when you look at the dangers of bearing grudges and bitterness for someone, you will advise yourself to forgive. Someone once said that "the greatest heaviness that someone can experience in their life is a self-inflicted heaviness caused by unforgiveness." There are times that the solution to heaviness of heart and other emotional challenges may just be to clear your mind from offences and see how better you will become.
It is true that forgiveness does not and will never change the past and what has happened, but it can change how you will experience the future by changing the present. In addition to this, it also makes you a better person and it helps you to know how to relate with people and also avoid what can lead to the emergence of offences. There are places that you need to avoid and some people who you need to keep at arm's length who normally create offences for you, so that you can avoid things that can lead to offence. You can avoid an effect by avoiding the cause. Anyone who constantly offends you at the slightest opportunity is not supposed to be your friend. As you forgive, also know who you should be friends with.
Thanks for reading
