Friday, December 26, 2008

Forgiveness part 2

In October, I wrote about forgiveness. Here is the first paragraph of what I wrote:

"The past few weeks I have been thinking about a very complex subject. The issue of forgiveness has been on my mind a lot the last few years and even more so in the last couple of weeks. The very definition of forgiving is the process of letting go resentment. It doesn't necessarily mean that you give absolution to the person that evoked the feelings in the first place. To me, it just means that you are taking a stand to let go of these emotions (whether it's anger, resentment, betrayal or other feelings)."

It dawned on me in all this forgiving that I have been doing for other people that I failed to remember one person that needed forgiveness. Myself. How can I forgive myself for my past wrongdoings? How can I forgive myself for hurting people in the past that may not have even known they were hurt? How can I let this weight off my shoulders be released?

Luke 6:37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.

I am trying to think of those that may have been hurt in the past by my actions or inactions so that I may ask for forgiveness. Though I think those persons that truly know me, they must know that I never intended for any pain to be caused. Unfortunately, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and just happened to get the insecure version of me.

Forgive and be forgiven.

2 comments:

Renee said...

This is a hard one jennifer....I don't find it too difficult to forgive others most of the time but I find it very hard to forgive myself~ especially when my children are involved...( of which they are all adults with children of their own).
If we don't forgive others we harbor resentment like you said...and I read at one time that resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die!
I have enjoyed this especially since I have been trying to forgive myself for the times I let my children down or acted inappropriately.
Take care
Renee

Renee said...

Jennifer...
I wrote you a comment at my blog, but yes you DID get me thinking alot about what harboring resentments does to us.
Hugs
Renee