Forgiveness is Not an Option, It's an Obligation

Forgiveness is hard to give especially when we were hurt so much by various people in our lives. The intensity of the pain it brings to us makes us think that they don't deserve to receive our forgiveness. But there are 3 reasons why we should open our hearts to forgive: 1. For God's sake, let us forgive those who tresspass against us for God also forgives all our trespasses. It is God's commandment to forgive others as we are also forgiven by Him. As we pray the Lord's Prayer, we are clearly reminded to forgive others. We are not deserving to receive God's forgiveness if we fail to forgive others as well. When we lose patience to someone, think how patient God has been with us. 2. For your own sake, forgive others in order to set yourself free. When we are so consumed by our ventful anger to someone, it takes away the peace in our hearts and minds, thus making us in constant anguish and sadness. By forgiving, it brings us the consolation and a stop to our inner suffering of hating someone. 3. For the sake of others, forgive since to err is human but to forgive is divine. Humans are we and we are not perfect. We opt to offend others and others to offend us. From time to time, people will commit sins against us so as are we to them. No man has ever lived alone, we need each other to carry out our life journey. By doing so, we need to maintain a good relationship with others. Aside from doing good things, we also need to forgive at times of shortcomings. This is what makes a relationship long lasting. If you really care about yourself and others, you need to stretch your patience and learn to forgive.

Forgiveness takes a whole lot of humility. It is hard but it is a must. It is not just an option wherein you have the choice to forgive or not, it is an obligation. This is not only for the people whom you have forgiven but much more to yourself so that you can be set free from hatred and be genuinely happy again.