Helpful Forgiveness Hint
When starting to be a forgiver (someone who forgives consistently), try to begin with hurts that are not so large. It is not unlike starting an exercise program. If you try to run 5 miles the first day or to bench press too much weight too soon, you get quite sore, quite discouraged, and may stop exercising. If you start slowly, you build up strength so that you can handle the longer run or the challenging bench press. Start forgiving someone who has not gravely hurt you and work up to those who have.
R.E.
Please follow and like us:
This makes sense. I have been trying to forgive the person who has hurt me the most and sometimes I almost feel like giving up. I will try this and see if it works.
This is like the technique of shaping in which you start slowly and work up to the bigger issues. There is a scientific literature that supports the shaping approach. Of course, shaping is part of behavior modification and forgiveness therapy is a far cry from that, but I just wanted to point out the similarities with a proven approach to say that you are on the right track here.