7 Misconceptions About Forgiveness

How we define forgiveness prevents us from being willing to do it and setting our souls free.

Photo by Gus Moretta on Unsplash

Who could you forgive?

Do you cringe when you are told that you need to forgive? Do you believe that if you forgive that you’re “letting them off the hook” or that they deserve punishment instead? The problem might be a misunderstanding about what forgiveness is and what it is not. It isn’t only our family members and friends who provide us with opportunities to practice forgiveness. Consider persons who, in the following situations, cause harm and provoke resentment:

• professionals who harm us through their incompetence or negligence such as a doctor who misdiagnoses us
• careless or impaired drivers who involve us or a loved one in a devastating accident
• persons in authority who not only fail but who refuse to protect us from harm, as in sexual abuse situations
• life, fate, the universe or God who allows us to be involved in a devastating accident, to contract some serious illness, or to lose a loved one.

Myths about forgiveness

It’s hard enough to forgive when we have an accurate understanding of what forgiveness is and, more…