Forgiveness

After one of my sisters told me she missed reading my posts on this blog, I thought I would try to continue to share more of my thoughts on marriage, parenting, friendship, and just life in general. This morning I was reading a talk given by Elder Kevin R. Duncan in April of this year, entitled "The Healing Ointment of Forgiveness." He said some things that I really needed to hear today. I have been struggling with feelings of hurt and seeing that struggle in others as well. Whether a friend has done something to hurt you, or a spouse has said or done something that made you feel of less worth, or a child has made decisions that are painful to bear, if we add to that hurt with anger or resentment, we are making everything worse. Elder Duncan declares that "Even though we may be a victim once, we need not be a victim twice by carrying the burden of hate, bitterness, pain, resentment, or even revenge. We can forgive, and we can be free!" I realized that I was allowing my pride to limit my growth, my forgiveness, and my understanding. I tried to view life from the other party's view and boy did things get put into perspective. I could easily feel the love of our Heavenly Father for this person. I had been trying to forgive all weekend, but had fallen short and was allowing the hate, anger, and resentment to fester inside. Realizing that I couldn't avoid being the victim the first time, I had the choice to allow myself to be a victim again or to forgive. "We can forgive, and we can be free!" My heart was changed today and I was able to forgive and be free. What a great feeling. I love this picture quote from Elder Duncan's talk that Time Out for Women created. This one sentence provides an entirely new outlook on the importance of forgiving.