One of the cornerstones of a happy life is learning to practice forgiveness. The practice of forgiveness creates amazing power to help make your life more effective.
One of history’s greatest religious teachers, Jesus – a man who lived an exemplary life – explains the Christian perspective on this issue in the Bible:
Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you have it; it’s yours! But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive you your sins too. ~ Mark 11:25-26, Living Bible
Forgiveness is sometimes difficult, especially in the context we typically try to understand. But it is essential if we want to create and experience effective
prayers.
But let me take this a step further, as there are two areas where we need to practice forgiveness.
First, when forgiving someone for something they did is difficult, you might practice forgiving your judgment around what they did. In other words, if you honestly believe in the oneness of Spirit, begin to recognize that judgment of a person or deed is where the division or separation appears — in your mind!
I like the way Ben Jamison describes it in his book Church-Free Spirituality:
Forgiveness returns you to your experience of love, which is being blocked by the judgments you hold. …. Once a judgment is released through forgiveness, all of the energy that was holding it in place is freed up.
Second, sometimes, the person that I most need to forgive is … myself.
It’s so easy to beat ourselves up for our mistakes. I do it – we all do it! Why? Do we really believe we are ‘sinners,’ unworthy of forgiveness? Are we reverting to old programming and erroneous teachings?
New Thought teaches a different view of sin and mistakes. Sin is just about missing the mark! Like in target practice — we often miss the bullseye or even the entire target. Should you beat yourself up for this? No! If you want to hit that bullseye, continue to practice and practice until you are hitting the target, closer and closer to center, more than missing. The same is true about sin or mistakes.
And maybe this is a better way to look at forgiveness. You just missed the mark by hanging on to old grudges…so reload until you get it right. A much healthier and more productive way to forgive ourselves. This makes it easier for us to forgive others, remembering that they also miss the mark sometimes.
Forgiveness brings you back into alignment with Spirit. It clears and opens your mind and heart to pray from a place of love and acceptance. When we practice forgiveness — for ourselves and others — we open ourselves up to happy and productive lives.