Life
is an adventure in forgiveness. - Norman Cousins
Always
forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much. ― Oscar Wilde
The
weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. ― Mahatma
Gandhi, All Men are Brothers: Autobiographical Reflections
When conflict arises, there are often
hurt feelings between the individuals that were involved in the conflict. This provides a great opportunity for
forgiveness. On Facebook, A Modern Day
Ruth recently posted:
You don’t have to rebuild a
relationship with everyone you’ve forgiven.
Just because you’re at peace doesn’t mean they’re not still toxic.
Forgiveness is not for the other person,
but for YOU! By forgiving, it provides
you the opportunity to move on with life and accomplish your dreams. As I was thinking about this post, I was
reminded of Nelson Mandela. According to
International Business Times, Mandela spent 27 years in prison for trying to
use violence to end white-minority rule.
After his release, he spent the remaining years of his life trying to
bring unity to a divided country. Four
things that he did to build unity were:
1.
Mandela invited one
his jailers to dinner on the 20th anniversary of his release from prison.
2.
Mandela invited a
prison guard to his inauguration as South Africa’s president.
3.
Mandela lunched
with the state prosecutor who tried to have him killed.
4.
Mandela wore the
hated green Springbok jersey when he presented the South African Captain the
World Cup Trophy in 1995.
No matter one’s opinion of Mandela, he
showed forgiveness after being jailed for 27 years. He showed his country that it was time to put
away hostility and unite as a country.
CHALLENGE: As the holidays approach, is there anyone that you need to forgive to have
peace in your family and the opportunity to finish 2018 passionately and begin
2019 strong?
Resource
another good one!
ReplyDelete