When have you forgiven and felt better for it, who should you forgive?

Question

Yesterday i did a meditation to forgive, i wanted to forgive my Dad for all he's done to my family. I did the meditation and wasn't sure how long it would take, or even if it would work. After about two minutes of thinking of the past i started getting sad, i said the lines about forgiving over and over. I cried thinking of all the past hurts and let all my emotions out. After a little while i was still crying but not because of the hurt, because i realised how much i miss my dad and how much i love him. I realised then i had forgiven him.

I called him and had the best conversation i have ever had with him, just a chat like daughters and fathers should. And i'm so glad i forgave him!

Who have you forgiven or who should you forgive. If you have forgiven someone was it worth it??

And btw, when i was Christian i prayed to God to help me forgive, but it never worked - with meditation it worked for me straight away. -just thought i'd add that in :)

Answer 1

Yes I have on this site a couple of times, If I know I have made a mistake I will say sorry . I have felt a lot better
It is better to forgive if you have made a mistake

God Bless You

Answer 2

I was subject to bullying at high school which left me with a low self esteem. I couple of years ago I decided that enough was enough and I forgave. It was like a huge burden was lifted off me. The people who bullied me has no idea that I did this as I have no contact with them but I know and that's what important.
As for who I need to forgive. Well that's myself. I made some bad choices in the past and somehow it's harder to forgive myself than others.

Answer 3

Forgiveness has layers like peeling an onion. First you cry, then little by little you peel it away. Life takes time to heal. Jesus forgave us but He still kept the marks of the nails and thorns as a reminder of what sin can do and how much more powerful it is to forgive.

Answer 4

I'm not familiar with the meditation to forgive that you are referring to, but I am familiar with forgiveness. I'm a Christian and therefore believe that to be forgiven myself, I must forgive others. It's part of the Lord's Prayer that so many people are familiar with, "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive others..." Although I know I need to forgive others, that hasn't necessarily made it easy for me to do so. I struggled for years, and to make a long story short, one day I finally learned that forgiveness wasn't a feeling, it was a choice. I just needed to make that choice and stick to it and every time that I was reminded of what someone had done to wrong me, I would refuse to dwell on it. At first it was hard, but in time, it became easy for me to do (which amazed me, at first I didn't think I'd ever be able to). God had a hand in it, he didn't 'help me forgive' in the sense I think you mentioned praying for, but he did show me the tools I needed so I could learn how to forgive for myself. Having said that, I've been able to forgive every wrong - the biggest and most difficult was the unfaithfulness of my husband. I allowed that to hurt me for years but was finally able to let it go. I'm so glad to see that you were to forgive your dad, congratulations! It's such a great relief to get rid of the weight that comes with holding onto a hurt someone's caused.

Answer 5

I haven't seen my daughter since she was kidnapped at 5 months old, 26 years ago. I have forgiven her abductor. I knew it had happened when I was asked what I would say to her if I somehow found her. I would say, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you". I have to believe that if someone wanted her so badly that they were willing to take her from me, that they also loved her and gave her a good home. I wouldn't want to take that from her.