I Believe In Forgiveness

This I Believe

I believe in forgiveness. Forgiveness is the pinnacle of compassion; having enough love in your heart to absolve your resentment towards someone is more potent than any other form of kindness. Without forgiveness, this world would be insufferable. The unforgiving man is a man filled with hatred and bitterness, and in all honesty, I believe that there is enough hatred in this world. There is no need to hold grudges against someone who was once held dear. Most often, the bitterness held in the hearts of the unforgiving is over a minor disagreement and is only perpetuated by stubbornness; even in bigger situations, forgiveness needs to be achieved, for happiness is found behind the mask of mercy.

For years after my dad died,

Hurting someone that you love cuts deeper than any other wound. For example, my mom has made many mistakes in her life that have adversely affected me. While I have been able to forgive her for most of these mistakes, she still is unable to forgive herself. Because of this, I have witnessed my mother spiral into a relentless depression; she still mentions the mistakes she made years ago and constantly apologizes, and even though I have told her that I forgive her, she still cannot let go of the hatred that she has for herself. She says she feels like a failure, but I believe that all she needs in her life is a little forgiveness. Similarly, I have been incapable of forgiving myself for an ill-advised comment I made to a friend. My friends mean more to me than anything else in the world, and hurting them is one of the unacceptable things I could possibly do. Therefore, when I upset my friend to the point where she refused to speak to me for over a week, I felt the lowest I had ever felt in entirety of my life. How could I have audacity to say something so idiotic? Ultimately, my friend was able to see past my foolish mistake and forgive me, but the comment has never since left the back of