Forgive. Forgiveness.

Forgive. Forgiveness.

Wow. Just thinking about these words can cause tightness in the pit of one's stomach. By definition, to forgive is to give up resentment of or claim to requital for <forgive an insult>; to cease to feel resentment against (an offender).

How do you wipe the slate clean and forgive someone who may have caused you harm? Forgiving is a tough thing to do. People can be mean-spirited by actions or words they speak. Sometimes comments made when trying to "help" someone causes more harm. How do you forgive someone when they don't even know the hurt they caused?

When you are hurt you may encounter feelings of anger, strife, or bitterness. You may feel offended by what you perceive is a lack of caring by another individual. You may want to seek revenge or hate the person, however, what good will that do? What will you accomplish by being angry and/or unforgiving?

Allowing the negative feelings to fester will create health issues. Are you willing to risk your health and having a happy life by punishing yourself?; by holding on to your resentments?

Every day we are hurt out of spite, out of anger, and oftentimes, we are hurt on purpose. Being able to forgive is difficult. It takes strength of character. The reality is that we don't forgive for the sake of the individual who caused us harm; we forgive for ourselves. We forgive to release the bitterness from our lives.

Forgiveness can be done in person or through prayer. You can ask God to give you the strength to forgive. While praying, tell God that you forgive the person for the harm that was caused.

Let your healing begin. Don't allow the resentment to build or keep you in a state of anger. Stop justifying in your mind all of the reasons why you should remain bitter/angry. Get back to living a passionate and fulfilled life. You deserve to be happy

When you forgive, do it for yourself.