Are You Prone To Forgive?

Forgive

Are you prone to forgive?
.
.
.
I ask this question in light of a study done by Johns Hopkins Institute.

It listed all the medical reasons why we should forgive.

👉 Lower risk of heart attack
👉 Lower cholesterol levels
👉 Better sleep
👉 Reduces pain and blood pressure
👉 Lowers anxiety, depression and stress

I found it very interesting, and from a world view, these may seem like great reasons to forgive but let me explain it with a biblical lens.

The need to forgive is because we allowed someone or something to offend us. Everyone can relate to being offended.

Most people, INCLUDING Christians, don’t understand what forgiveness really is. Why is this? Mainly it’s because they have the wrong idea of what forgiveness is.

To understand this, we have to first know what forgiveness is not.

👉 Forgiveness is not minimizing what happened.

Face it, it happened and it’s NOT ok. It is a big deal, it did hurt and it wasn’t right.

👉 Forgiveness is not forgetting what was done.

The term “forgive and forget“ is a lie. The reality is you may never forget what happened to you, but your memories have nothing to do with your ability to forgive.

👉 Forgiveness is not reconciliation.

Our willingness to forgive someone should not hinge on whether they apologize or not. Many times the person who offended you doesn’t feel they did anything wrong anyway.

👉 Forgiveness is not weakness.

Just because you choose to be free, and forgive, does not mean you let someone off the hook. You are not being weak.

So how do you learn to forgive?

➡️ First, realize your own imperfections. In doing, so you will see things in a different light. After all you would want someone to forgive you right?

➡️ Pray for those that offended you. The world view is return evil for evil but that just causes more strife.

➡️ Speak well of those that offended you. Now don’t get all mushy but don’t talk bad about them either. The more times you tell others about how they wronged you, the harder it is to forgive.

➡️ Do good for those that offended you. Now this doesn’t mean go clean the house it just means you choose to do good for all people which would include them.

If you are struggling with forgiveness, you are not alone. I do hope this helps you learn how to forgive and why we should.

Share your thoughts below.

- - - - - - -

Need help with forgiveness? Let’s talk.

Schedule a meeting below.

https://lnkd.in/gsU2_EC4


#AuthenticLeadership #success #coaching #generosity #lifelonglearner #leadership
#leadershipdevelopment
#higherauthority #blessedlife

- - - - - -

🔔🔔 Follow Me for common sense advice on #AuthenticLeadership and life. 🔔🔔

Photo credit Felix Koutchinski on Unsplash