Are you one of those people who collect quotes? I am. When I see good, pithy quotes, underline them. When they’re exceptional, I write them down. There’s something about good quotes that captures my imagination.
One thing I’ve discovered about collecting quotes is that you start picking up more good quotes the more you do it. It’s like my mind focuses in on them when I hear them.
One I heard recently was “Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.” Credit for this one goes to C. S. Lewis.
This is one of the quotes that mean more the longer I ponder it. Forgiveness always sounds like a good idea until you’re in the middle of a situation where you have something to forgive.
When that hurt or wrong is suddenly tossed into your lap and life, things look different. Forgiveness is not so easy when you’re the one done wrong.
The wrong has a way of coloring everything you encounter. It changes how you look at people and yourself.
What sounded so good no longer sounds so good.
The wrong done to you becomes a lens that changes how you view the whole world. You see the world through the wrong done to you and the pain it brings with it.
True forgiveness is not an easy option. In terms of the easy options, ‘going with the flow’ is easier. True forgiveness is not going with the flow.
It’s taking the high road and looking beyond what was done to you. It’s choosing to see the person who did the wrong as a human being who made a mistake instead of a monster.
When you can do that- when you can see them as human- then forgiveness becomes possible. Maybe not easy, but possible.
It’s easy for the preachers or experts to say with smug smiles that you need to forgive. It’s always easier to say you need to forgive than to do it. Perhaps that’s why they seldom tell you ‘how’ to go about forgiving.
Although it’s not an easy option, it opens the door to more choices. At this point, you may be so entrenched in your pain and what was done to you that forgiveness is out of the question.
I find it healthier to forgive when the time is right rather than forgive prematurely. Many situations have been worsened by forgiving too soon.
When you’re ready for to forgive, consider downloading the video, “Forgiveness: Stop the Pain, Tear down the Walls and Remove the Roadblocks”. The video guides you through the ‘how’ part of forgiveness.
Just click the link, download it and start your journey through forgiveness.
Forgiveness isn’t for everyone. Doing it right involves effort on your part. It’s not one of those easy, go-with-the-flow types of things. C. S. Lewis was right about forgiveness being a lovely idea until it happens to you.
Keeping It Real,
Jeff
