Forgiveness, An Assured Way To Finding Inner Peace.

Forgiveness, An Assured Way To Finding Inner Peace.

Photo by Magda Ehlers

"When a deep injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive." Alan Paton

That quote says so much to me whenever it comes to forgiveness. Seriously, it is not easy to forgive as we say it with our lips. Forgiveness is not something you just throw at someone and go away smiling, sometimes it even hurts to say "I forgive you" but it hurts even more to walk away without forgiving.

I know that there are certain things that the general public sees as offensive, things marked out by the law and our society, for example, stealing, killing, kidnapping, etc., but there is even more

As humans we all have different ways of thinking and approaching things, sometimes influenced by the kind of environment we came from thus, it is just impossible for people not to offend you.

The differences we have in culture, beliefs, and even religion are already a laid down foundation for offense. What you consider as right might be what someone sees as an offense.

Until we learn to accept our human differences, we may never escape getting hurt. Moreover, it takes offense and forgiveness for us to understand each other better.

So getting offended is just something that is waiting for us at every junction in life. The human heart is too fragile. When someone does something you don't like, for instance, takes advantage of you, steals from you, or lies against you, it pricks the heart and cuts away trust immediately.

Funny enough, trust takes a long time to build but a second to destroy, and once it's gone only a genuine forgiveness can restore at least a portion of it. It is normal to be offended, and it is normal to feel like not to forgive, we are all humans but we shouldn't let our human weaknesses be a limitation to us.

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It is human to hold onto an offense but divine to forgive.
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People are crying all over the world for change and peace, we say "Love conquers all," and we preach love every day as the way out but do you know that without forgiveness love can not come in? Who knows, probably the lack of peace we don't have in some parts of the world is due to unforgiveness, intolerance, and lack of apologies.

There is so much forgiveness in our lives, when we let go of the offense that others commit to us, it heals both us and those that offended us.

Some people say, "I want to move on but each time I see the person, the offense comes back fresh." Do you know it's not difficult to move on? The easiest way to do it is to forgive the person, unburden your heart from the thoughts of the wrong, and see how peace will cloud your heart. In fact, the offender will be the one to suffer more harm when you do so

But as long as you keep holding onto the past and wrongs of people, you will be stuck in one place.

My Personality

One thing with me is, I don't like unnecessary burdens. I hate bothering myself with anything at all. The reason is this, each time I am burdened with something, I don't sleep at night.

I have said here several times that I came from a polygamous home, if it's a quarrel, it's a daily routine. I fought, I held grudges and I also forgave.

Each time I have a misunderstanding with anyone whether I am at fault or not, my heart doesn't stay at ease, I think about the situation over and over, until I start throwing faults at myself. I grew up being like that.

You see me, I love sleep so much, anything that would deprive me of having a sound sleep, I fight it with all my strength. So when I discovered that unforgiveness, makes me sleepless, each time I have a quarrel with someone. I allow the person's temper to cool off, then go and apologize, I don't even let it pass that day except it's beyond my strength.

I don't care whether I am right or wrong, I just don't want trouble at all. There was a time when I had a misunderstanding with my stepmother. She told my dad not to pay my school fees, I don't know how it happened that my dad opened it up to me, I felt so bad and reacted.

We exchanged words like we were going to fight. That night, after the quarrel, I went to sleep and sleep was not forthcoming. The picture of the scene kept flashing in my mind until I felt guilty. I left my room that night, knocked at her door, and apologized.

We understood ourselves and she explained things to me and then apologized too. I felt a kind of peace I never experienced before after we forgave each other. Since then we have been on good terms and I got to understand that she is a darling Mother.

I find it very easy to forgive, it's so easy that I can apologize to you even if you offend me. Although I know there are some offenses that are very bitter, I am not praying to experience any of them. But whatever the case may be. Forgiveness is something we should carry as a lifestyle.

It doesn't cost a thing to let go and move on, life is simple and easy but you can complicate it for yourself if you occupy your heart with the wrong deeds of others. If you want to enjoy peace, practice forgiveness often, not just forgiveness for others but self-forgiveness as well because you can't give what you don't have.

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