Forgive and Forget

These must be the most difficult phrase to live out in our day to day relationships.

 

Forgiving, if for nothing else, is a way to move on from a bad event or series of events with others. Moreover, forgiving is therapeutic for the wronged person. It allows the person to use their mental and physical energies towards other endeavors.

 

Forgiving also allows room for growth spiritually. Just about every religion espouses forgiveness on some level. This is not to protect the offender but to help the offended to completely release from the offender and his/her actions.

 

Forgetting, on the other hand, is impractical on some level. While forgiveness allows for the offended to move on with their lives, forgetting would be an easy way to have the offenses placed upon you again. The two, forgive and forget, are connected. On some level you have to put the bad memories behind you. But not so far, to allow the same sequence of events to occur again.

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with forgiving the person that has wronged you. Then separating yourself from that person if you believe they would wrong you again given the chance.

 

A robber can easily be forgiven if he/she robs from your home. However, allowing the robber an opportunity to rob you again is something that should be avoided.

 

Yeshua bin Josef (Jesus Christ) as portrayed in the Bible forgave his offenders. He also went further to say that if the person offends you again not to take action and forgive that person.

 

His Roman and Jewish offenders were able to offend him by crucifixion. However, his offenders are now in no position to offend him. Yeshua transformed in a way that his offenders can never offended him. So, did Yeshua forgive his offenders? Yes. Were these same offenders allowed to offend him again? No.  

 

The moral of this story is if you do not protect and take the necessary precautions to keep yourself from being harmed by another, then it is your failure.

 

As the saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

 

If a person offends you, do not take revenge.  A vengeful person lacks a certain level of control over themselves and their environment. However, there is nothing wrong with protecting yourself from a person that would bring you harm.

 

What is meant by protect? This can be as simple as breaking contact with the person. In this scenario, you have forgiven the person. However, you have removed them from your environment. This is where most heartache and pain originates from. Many people hope that their offenders change ignoring the fact that they may not change. This ignorance leads to more pain and trouble.  

 

So, forgive all that have offended you. However, do not forget to the degree where the offense can be acted upon you again. Only you are in control of the people that are in your environment.

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