Forgiveness is a choice. It's a decision about how we deal with the
past. One choice we can make about
wrongs we have suffered in the past is to seek revenge. "Don't get mad, get even" is a
popular saying these days. The idea
behind it is an economic one, that there is a balance owed to me because I have
been wronged, that I will feel poor and deprived until the day I have found
satisfaction for the wrongs committed against me. I may resort to a lawsuit or to the cold
shoulder or to some other method, but I will make the wrongdoer pay dearly.
To choose forgiveness instead is to
give up the balance sheet view of things.
By letting go of what I perceive as wrongs committed against me, I can
also let go of bitterness and resentment.
I no longer have to wait for vindication, for evening the score. At any moment I can choose to take control of
how I feel about the past.
--
Kenneth L. Gibble in Alive Now,
July/August 1995, published by The
Upper Room, Nashville, TN. Used with
permission.
#3004
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