Benefits of forgiveness

What you need to know:

  • OPINION. If we learn to forgive one another, we free our health from being ill.
  • Forgiveness gives one a peace of mind as MSGR JOHN WYNAND KATENDE writes.

Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves”. This dictum is attributed to Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, who lived nearly 500 years before Jesus Christ. It stresses that revenge brings further pain and misery and can only end in a spiral of darkness and bitterness. Forgiveness is, however, the cure for revenge.
Christians generally understand that forgiveness is a fundamental principle of the spiritual life as taught and practiced by Jesus Christ. Jesus teaches that our relationship with God is as children to their father, thus making all of us brothers and sisters in this world. Our job here is to serve as agents of God’s will, and that includes becoming as forgiving toward others as we hope a loving father would be toward us.

Forgiveness in prayer
In the “Our Father” prayer, Jesus states the principle of forgiveness as a simple matter of fact: If we forgive others, then we will be forgiven, and if we do not, we will not (Matthew 6:14-15). Jesus gave the parable of the unmerciful servant, to further emphasise the importance of forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35).
When the disciple Peter asks if we must forgive others up to seven times for their transgressions against us. Jesus replies, “Not seven times, but seventy times seven times.” This does not literally imply we are to forgive exactly 490 times and no more, but rather that we should forgive countless times, as many as it takes. If we refuse heartfelt forgiveness to others, then we have no right to expect forgiveness for our own mistakes. Again, in Matthew 5:23-24, Jesus says before approaching God, we must first reconcile our differences with others.

Heartfelt act
Forgiveness may be described as the act of compassionately releasing the desire to punish someone or oneself for an offence. It is a state of grace. One cannot force it or pretend. Revenge is the desire to get even when someone does you wrong. However, revenge reduces us to our worst self, puts us on the same level with those spiteful people we claim to abhor.
Revenge affects your health
Studies have shown that revenge increases stress and impairs health and immunity. To thrive personally and as humanity, we must resist this predictable lust for revenge, and seek to right wrongs more positively. The best revenge is our success, happiness, and the triumph of not giving vindictive people any dominion over our peace of mind. Forgiveness refers to the actor not the act; not to the offence but the woundedness of the offender. It is to remember that nobody is perfect.

When you forgive…
Forgiveness is a paradigm-shifting solution for transforming anger. Our desire to transform anger is a business of peace. It liberates us from the trap of endless revenge so that we can experience more joy and connection. Forgiveness does more for us than anyone else because it liberates us from negativity and lets us move forward. Forgiving might not make anger dissolve but it will give us the freedom of knowing we are so much more. Hatred never ceases through hatred in this world; through love alone it ceases. This is an eternal law, espoused by all religions.