Forgiving yourself for mistakes can be harder than forgiving a friend or family member.
But it’s important to move past mistakes in life. If God forgives your trespasses, why can’t you put them in the past?
No one gets to the end of their life and says, I wish I had been angrier longer. They say, “I’m sorry,” or “I forgive you” or “I love you.”
We asked Intentional Living Facebook readers how they move beyond anger and resentment to forgiveness.
Some of their responses:
Janet: By renewing my mind to the truth. I am the biggest sinner of them all and God forgave me, how can I not extend that same forgiveness to my brother or sister or enemy?
Joe: I don’t carry resentment. I was once told I could break bread with a person; I don’t have to eat it with them.
Nikki: Lots of prayer. It was God working through me, because I would never have been able to do it on my own. Plus, my health was suffering and I realized that I needed to let go of some things.
Dawn: It has taken a long time, but I am 30 days of forgiveness and anger free, toward my daughter. She has gone back to drugs, so I have joined “Celebrate Recovery” in my town, and I have put Jesus first and asked him to take my hate and anger away. I believe now it is not my fault and my daughter makes her own choices.
Danny: Believing that I am a sinner that is in need of mercy, who wants be forgiven, has taught me to learn to forgive others.
To live an intentional life of forgiveness, be kind and compassionate. You will hurt yourself if you live a life of bitterness and anger. You have the strength to forgive.
Intentional One Thing Challenge
If you could do ONE THING and know that it would make a significant, lasting, possibly life-changing difference in your life, would you do it? Dr. Carlson shares the power of ONE THING and why you should get started doing your ONE THING today.
Tell Us
How have you moved past anger to forgiveness? We’d love to hear your success stories. Post your comments below.
