The Power of Forgiveness

By: Robert Zink

Of all of the virtues, forgiveness must be one of the hardest to put into practice. Often times, lack of forgiveness or building a shell around yourself is the result of spiritual pride. Our hurt can run so deep and painful that somehow we need to justify them with both anger and hatred against those who caused them. We can come to believe all kinds of un-truths and become the spreader of those un-truths in order to feel justified. But in fact, we have decided to live in a world where forgiveness does not exist, and we use this justification to promote our own spiritual pride. Most importantly, anger and hatred are the most destructive emotions and actually lead to physical illness as well as a heart never at peace.

If we could but let it all go, hand the hurts, angers and hatred over to the Source of all Light and forgiveness and say: "The burden has become too heavy for me, please take it onto your shoulders. Help me to forgive those who hurt me, and others. Let me love them and trust them with all my heart and soul.” If we could and would chose to do this, we would be more centered in the universe.

For some of us, that hatred is directed towards God. The loss of a loved one, particularly a child, leaves us so angry with God that we turn away from Him. That’s part of a normal grieving process, but there comes a time when we must let go of those harmful emotions and rejoice in the good memories we have of the one who is lost to us.

Perhaps we feel a certain guilt and direct the anger inwards, unable to forgive ourselves. There can be things in our past that we feel ashamed of and feel we are unworthy of forgiveness. Forgive yourself, you deserve it and need it to maximize the power of your life.

Forgiveness does not mean having to try to like the person who hurts us. It also means we have to let it go, release the heavy burden of anger, leave the past behind and look to a bright new day. This is your time, your day…move on!

"Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him" (Luke 17:2-4). Take that scripture passage one step further and forgive whether the sinner repents or not. Forgiveness is a gift we give to ourselves, challenging us to believe that there is a better future and giving us the inner confidence to know that we will survive the pain and suffering. Healing of that pain comes faster when we can let it go and stop it from festering inside like a volcano ready to erupt.

Look, the bottom line is you’re too important to hang onto hurt, distrust, anger, spiritual pride and all the things that keep you from being free flowing, loving and forgiving. Let it go and move on…

Yours in Self Mastery, Personal Achievement and Forgiveness,

Robert Zink

P.S. Make it a week of forgiveness. Find someone you have been secretly holding negative lower emotions against, and quietly forgive them and yourself. Then move on with laughter, love and passion.