Annie’s Journal- by Annie Warner Donnelly
Hello Everyone. We may not be able to bring peace to the world, but with God’s help, we can achieve peace in our hearts and minds. One of the most important things we can do to maintain peace within us is to forgive others.
Dr. Dick Tibbits in his book “Forgive to Live – How Forgiveness Can Save Your Life” uses this definition of forgiveness: “Forgiveness is the process of reframing one’s anger and hurt from the past, with the goal of recovering one’s peace in the present and revitalizing one’s purpose and hope for the future.”
Tibbits has “broken forgiveness into three distinct dimensions:
- Relational forgiveness focuses on what happens between two people when a conflict arises … Although reconciliation may be the ultimate goal of relational forgiveness, it won’t be possible if one person refuses to offer forgiveness or if the other person refuses to accept forgiveness. However, real forgiveness can happen without reconciliation.
- The hurts inflicted on us can turn our world completely upside down. The spiritual dimension of forgiveness can help us get things right side up again; it can help us find personal meaning and purpose regardless of where we are on our spiritual journey.
- Personal forgiveness has the most therapeutic and healing value of the three because it can help us along our journey from hurt to healing, from victim to victor, and from bitter to better.”
If these aren’t reasons enough to forgive, Matthew 6:14,15 makes this chilling pronouncement:
Jesus said, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive your trespasses.”
Forgive to be forgiven; there’s no way around it. Becoming a forgiving person lays a foundation of trust and hope and peace in our lives. The world around us may not be experiencing peace, but we can, and with God’s help, it can be peace that lasts.
Everything in the Christian life comes down to this question: Do we trust God’s wisdom and love in all things?
The choice, as always, is ours. Amen.