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Paul and Barbara Sanders, in their book Choosing Forgiveness, suggest several reasons
why forgiveness is so important to healthy living. (see blog 04-25-16 part I
for first reason)
2. Forgiveness aids our own recovery. Forgiveness doesn’t just benefit the receiver, it also benefits
the giver. Revenge, anger, hate and bitterness take their toll on our feelings.
Remember Pipo the sniper. He lived in a wasteland of his bitterness and hate.
To live a life of unforgiveness is to live in
continual pain, a pain that will never heal itself. Continually demanding payment
from the wrong-doer turns bitterness inward. It’s like drinking poison and
waiting for the other person to die. It ultimately eats out our innards. That’s
why Pipo described himself literally as a zombie. The walking dead. The final
end of refusing to forgive.
Lewis Smedes, in his book Forgive and Forget, puts it this way: “The
only way to heal the pain that will not heal itself is to forgive the person
who hurt you. Forgiving stops the reruns of pain. Forgiving heals your memory
as you change your memory’s vision. When you release the wrongdoer from the
wrong, you cut a malignant tumor out of your inner life … and the prisoner you
set free is yourself.”
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