Tuesday; July 17

The principle of forgiveness is the one of most basic aspects of humanity.  Anyone who believes in an eternity realizes that we have done wrong and must rely upon Divine forgiveness to receive any type of reward after this life is over.  Those of us who believe in Christianity also understand there is a “condition” connected to the forgiveness of our sins – we must be willing to forgive others.  One of the earliest principles of Jesus’ teaching is, “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (Matthew 6:15-16)  In fact, if the truth were known, I would imagine that even the non-religious would promote this principle of forgiveness.  If we want people to forgive us for our offenses against them, we must be willing to reciprocate to them.
Interestingly, there is another type of forgiveness that is vital to our mental, emotional and spiritual health – our willingness to forgive ourselves.  Consciously we all know that we aren’t without fault and that we will fail, yet when it comes to the practicality of life, how many of us expect personal perfection and beat ourselves up when we don’t get it right all the time?  The truth is that any quality of life is dependent on trying to do our best, accepting our mistakes, then moving on with a dedication to do better in the future.  No, we can’t ignore or excuse our missteps, but when we acknowledge our failure and forgive ourselves we can advance toward our potential.
Do we need to seek forgiveness?  Do we need to give forgiveness?  Either way, our actions today will determine our future.
          Think About It!

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