“Forgiveness is for yourself because it frees you. It lets you out of that prison you put yourself in.” -Louise L. Hay
Forgiveness is the key to self-love. I didn’t want to jump right into it at the beginning because it’s so much more than just letting go.
I grew up in a strict church environment. Growing up in Jamaica, from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday were dedicated to praise and worship. I knew what forgiveness was, I read about it and I understood you should forgive people if they hurt you because the bible said so.
As my mom would say “what would Jesus do?”
I was taught forgiveness was necessary in order for our heavenly father to forgive us. According to the bible
Matthew 6 vs 14-15
“14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
But, what exactly is forgiveness and what does it mean to you?
According to the dictionary forgiveness mean:
1 a : to give up resentment of or claim to requital. For forgive an insult b : to grant relief from payment of forgive a debt
- 2: to cease to feel resentment against (an offender) : forgive one's enemies
- Forgive means: stop feeling angry or resentful toward (someone) for an offense, flaw, or mistake.
It wasn’t until I got older (I know I’m still young) that I truly understood the meaning of forgiveness. Forgiveness to me means letting your spirit be free. Forgiveness isn’t for them, it’s for YOU. Sure, you won’t feel anger or resentment toward the person anymore but that’s just the cherry on top.
Forgiveness sets you free. Oftentimes we hold on to our anger and pain because we think we’re hurting those who hurt us by not forgiving them when in reality the only person we’re hurting is ourselves.
Forgiveness is the key to self love because in order for us to move on with our lives, first we must set ourselves free. In order for us to find true happiness with ourselves and others, we have to truly learn what it means to forgive.
Don’t do it for them, do it for yourself.
When we forgive, we take back the power we gave others over us. We free ourselves from the mental jail we put ourselves in. Forgive the past, forgive yourself.
Stop holding yourself hostage in the past, stop being a prisoner in your mind.
Self love = self forgiveness.
Forgiveness was easy for me because I had accepted my life, my pain and everything I had been through. As I stated before in day 13 post, acceptance was hard for me more than forgiveness because the moment I accepted the pain I felt and the anger inside of me, was the moment I realized I was hurting myself. I realized that in order for my life to progress and find true happiness, peace and love I had to forgive myself for holding on for so long. I had to let it go.
“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.” -Robert Muller
Update, February 2021: Due to a server crash, I lost 80% of my blog content. At first I was extremely sad because all my comments, views and status was lost. But, I try to find the silver lining and accept that everything happens for a reason. I wrote a 31 days of self love post in 2017. Some content were able to be saved others wasn't. I chose to share what remained because it helped so many people opened up.