Forgiveness is by no means an easy feat but the peace it brings is truly healing. Through this, we surrender our past, painful moments and enter the present with a burden lifted off our shoulders.
Trapped
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” — Lewis B. Smedes. This quote by Lewis perfectly sums up the power of forgiveness. Often we view the wrongdoer as the prisoner, barred from receiving our forgiveness. However, through this we in fact cage and imprison ourselves in our own lattice of hatred and anger towards the person who’s wronged us.
Released
To not forgive, is to hold onto the pain associated with having hatred and anger towards the other person. It does more harm than good to ourselves. In our lives, whenever we hold onto something painful physically in our hands, the natural instinct is to let it go. Follow this same instinct when it comes to forgiveness and release the hatred or anger you may feel towards the other person. As difficult as it can be, always remember it’s for you and your healing.
Although we may not feel like forgiving in the moment, always remember that forgiveness is not an action of weakness. It’s stronger than we could ever imagine and the greatest form of self-love. You deserve to be healed and set free. To forgive is a deep, high level of love not just towards others, but more importantly towards yourself.
Your Summit 
I think your superb piece, very aptly, also puts forward the idea of forgiveness as a core tenet of spiritualism. Yes, in the moment, it is indeed difficult to forgive. But on further reflection and a wee bit of spiritual dusting, when one starts to recognize one’s inner spark as the very same as that also dwelling in others, one concludes that forgiving others is the very same as forgiving oneself: as you put it, it’s for “…your healing”. If nothing else, this idea and its practice is a great relief valve in our modern, everyday living, whereby the forgiver and the forgiven are put back on an equal plane by the act of forgiveness, so as to not dwell on the past but instead focus on living well and tension-free in the “now” to make a better tomorrow.
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Thanks so much! Completely agree, forgiveness brings a great sense of relief and helps us to live in the present with a burden lifted off our shoulders ☺️
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Totally agree with you – forgiveness is liberating.
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☺️💞
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forgive but do not forget.
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