\u201cI know I am supposed to forgive, but how do I go about it?\u201d That\u2019s the question I had as a young mom. Someone had betrayed my trust and made disastrous choices that affected me, my kids, and a whole slew of other people I cared deeply about. I could say<\/em> I had forgiven the offender, but what did that really mean? Wasn\u2019t that the same as saying that person\u2019s transgressions didn\u2019t matter? That didn\u2019t seem just. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I knew deep down that I hadn\u2019t forgiven the person because whenever their name came up, I could feel my stomach tighten and my mood sour. I also relished way too much anything bad that happened to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Merriam-Webster\u2019s definition of forgiveness is \u201cto cease to feel resentment against an offender,\u201d \u201cto pardon one\u2019s enemies.\u201d A pastor said it another way. He said, \u201cForgiveness is giving up one\u2019s right to be angry.\u201d That caught my attention. Yes, I did have every right to be angry with the transgressor, but I could also choose to give up that right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Although that statement helped me immensely, I still wasn\u2019t sure how to \u201cgive up anger\u201d toward my offender. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For me, forgiveness became a process rather than a one-time event. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n These were some of the steps that helped me: <\/p>\n\n\n\n After several years (I wish I could say it had been weeks), I one day realized I had forgiven my tormentor when their name came up and I didn\u2019t seethe with anger. And guess what? Believe it or not, I\u2019ve had other opportunities to practice these steps, just as I hope people will be kind enough to do for me when I need to be forgiven! No one said forgiveness is easy, but it\u2019s worth it! <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Andrea Johnson \u201cI know I am supposed to forgive, but how do I go about it?\u201d That\u2019s the question I had as a young mom. Someone had betrayed my trust and made disastrous choices that affected me, my kids, and a whole slew of other people I cared deeply about. I could say I had forgiven the offender, but what did that really mean? Wasn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":17248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[81,102,149],"class_list":["post-13267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-editor","tag-editor","tag-forgiveness","tag-jun20"],"yoast_head":"\n