Forgiveness Is YOUR Joy

God will bring us many opportunities to practice forgiveness because that is one of our purposes here. There will also be that one person who you just don't want to forgive, often a family member or close friend who has hurt or betrayed you. But the hard ones are the ones where you are given the opportunity to take a quantum leap in your understanding and compassion and in your relationship with God. It is important to recognize that you withhold forgiveness from someone because you want to punish that person. When we reflect on the need to punish, we can see that this belief comes from a larger belief system that God is a punishing God, not a God of Love. And it also comes from a belief that we have sinned and should be punished. For if we see sin in someone else, we see it in ourselves. If we have compassion on another and see their divinity, their Oneness with ourselves and God, we automatically have compassion on ourselves and see our Oneness with this other person and God. We can see sin, separation, and judgment, or we can see what can better be classified as errors, along with Love, and Oneness. Realize that Love looks past. Realize that forgiveness is about YOUR joy and peace. Lawrence Doochin These posts are similar to the over 2100 contained on The Divine Speaks website (www.thedivinespeaks.com) where God gives YOU the one that you need to hear at that time. Lawrence is the author of three books on emotional and spiritual healing, including "Thirteen Steps To Move From Victim Consciousness To God Consciousness: Healing Traumatic Experiences Including Sexual, Physical, Emotional, And Mental Abuse." He is available for fee based spiritual and life counseling. Please contact him at lawrence@lawrencedoochin.com