Thursday, July 30, 2009

About Forgiveness...


I read a passage in my daily devotional that really resonated with me:
“Forgiveness is not something you do. It is a state of being that when offered brings forth the truth of who you are.” – Iyanla Vanzant

Having been challenged in the past couple of months with a difficult situation in my personal life and having chosen to be forgiving in that situation, I realized that even though it had seemed to others a difficult choice, it had never really been a choice for me at all. The truth is, I thoroughly enjoy the peace that I’ve been experiencing within my spirit. The truth is, I’m giddy about the loving feeling I’ve developed for myself. The truth is, I’ve become so intoxicated with who I am, that I had no time to be angry about whom the other person had seemed to become. In order to maintain the truth of who I’ve become, my only option was to forgive. I acknowledged the hurt, was honest with myself and the other person about the reasons why I was hurt—and then I made a choice to move on. I over-stood that this turn of events in my life was not of my making, but it was surely going to turn out to be for my highest good—and right then, I knew I could heal. You see, I’m beginning to realize that as humans, we can lean toward a tendency to make things more difficult than they need to be. We are so conditioned to act out on our emotions that we let them overwhelm and consume us—not only our current emotions about the current incident occurring in our lives; but also about our past emotions in similar experiences; or past thoughts about what emotions we decided we would feel if ever faced with a certain adversity. It’s time to start realizing that we can make things really easy on ourselves by being forgiving. Being loving. Being peaceful. Being positive. When we are these things, everything else is simple.

As I often do when something resonates with me, I made it my daily Facebook status. See what my friends had to say:

Me” is so thankful for the ability to forgive! Bcuz forgiveness isn’t something u do, but a state of being that when offered, brings forth the truth of who u are.

BH at 7:20am
Very profound...forgiveness is definitely more than just SAYING it. I'm working on it... ;o/
LS at 7:42am
That is so real
LS at 7:43am
Only a mature person can forgive. Forgiveness brings life, unforgiveness brings death to any person!
YM at 8:42am
the bible, that's all I'm going to say!
CT at 8:54am
Amen...... Holding anger and grudges is like carrying a 100lb. bag of misery all day. It gets old and tiresome real quick. Letting it go is for your betterment, not the bag of misery.
Me at 9:25am
You can do it B! :)
You guys are all so right. As humans we tend to have an uncanny capacity for and inclination towards holding onto "stuff" and attaching "stuff" to even the simplest of situations. We have to get to a point where we accept things as they are without making them negative experiences and just use them for growth and our own highest good--thus eliminating the need to hold onto the negative baggage. What a freeing feeling to know we have the ability to choose!
LS at 9:28am
We are commanded to love, while God take vengeance! He will repay every man according to his work
YM at 10:42am
LS PREACH! I've learned that bitter is not attractive, you truly have to let go and let God. And even when you see that God has taken his vengeance, don't boast but continue to pray for that person/people.
LS at 10:47am
Amen!

3 comments:

GG said...

I read somewhere that holding onto a grudge is like taking a shot of poison and thinking it is going to harm the person you're holding the grudge against when really you are just harming yourself.

And I have to mention the wise words of Erykah Badu:

Bag lady you gone hurt your back
Dragging all them bags like that
I guess nobody ever told you
All you must hold on to
Is you, is you, is you

thedressjunkie said...

i so needed this today!! really...forgiveness has been my prayer this week. thanks for the inspiration ladies!

Peace Love and Pretty Things said...

Such wise words GG! We have to remember that we are only in control of ourselves so our actions ultimately affect us first and foremost. And love the Erykah Badu lyrics.

Urbsoph, we're so glad we were able to meet you exactly where you were when you read this post. Thank you for allowing us to inspire you!

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