Forgiveness

The past few days I've been pondering the power of forgiveness. The following thoughts are not meant to cover all situations, but seek to offer another way to deal with the hurts of life.

Within forgive, is the word give. When someone cuts in front of me, buries my car in snow to clear theirs, or the like, I can GIVE away my feelings of anger and shame. These powerful emotions would hold me captive otherwise, and my desire revenge would cause things to escalate to tragic levels. The movie Changing Lanes portrays this powerfully.

Forgiveness is giving away the hurt; it doesn't mean it did not happen. It is letting go, asking the other to "please don't continue this behavior" so the hurting stops. It is difficult to confront someone, and say "I'd prefer..." but that is the adult thing to do. Some days forgiveness is letting go and walking away to prevent repeated pain.

There are times where we need to forgive ourselves for making bad choices, sometimes we need to confess to someone "I'm sorry I hurt you". The power of forgiveness lies in giving away the negative and opening ourselves to the positive.

This Advent, as you ponder and prepare for Christ...feel the power of forGIVEness.