Forgiveness- The Path To Healing & Spiritual Growth

The dictionary defines the word forgive as: [to pardon, as to for-give an enemy;to cease to feel resentment for,as to forgive an offense].

I have heard people say this many times: "I will never forgive them for what they did!", as if by saying this they are causing harm to the person who hurt them. The reality is that they are doing the harm to themselves alone. As defined in the dictionary, when you forgive someone you "cease to feel resentment". Resentment, along with anger, hate, jealousy and other negative emotions, will eat you up inside and can cause actual physical ailments and disease.

Often times after we have been emotionally,physically or spiritually hurt, the pain quickly turns to anger and resentment. We go over the episodes of the past in our heads, re-living each painful moment again and again like a never-ending nightmare. Each time we do this the old feelings surface and we once again feel the gut-wrenching pain the person caused us. By doing this we are living in the past instead of the present, and it can be a dangerous thing for everyone involved but the majority of danger falls right into your lap.

Many people feel that forgiveness is a gift. I agree! It is a gift, but not to the one you are forgiving. The gift is to yourself and what a wonderous gift it can be. By forgiving the people who have hurt you in the past you set yourself free from the chains of resentment and other harmful emotions running rampant through your mind, body and spirit. By forgiving you are taking away the control the other person has over you....You are empowering yourself and growing by spiritual leaps and bounds. You will heal deep-rooted pain that perhaps you thought was gone a long time ago but has survived, living under all of the resentment that you have held onto for so long. By forgiving you are one step closer to your journey of self-growth and healing.

Some of you are on a journey of helping Creator to give healing to others who need it. The first step on your journey is to heal yourself. This can be very difficult as well as painful but the upside to the difficulties and pain is the end result, which is very rewarding indeed. It will be rewarding for both you as a healer and for those who you will help to heal.

I have heard of horrific and tragic stories relating to the suffering that people on this earth have gone through and like many of you, I have often asked how Creator could place anyone in such situations. The truth of the matter is... Many people who have lived such suffering and painful lives, or have survived horrific events... go on to become wonderful healers on this earth, doing Creator's work. They start foundations,organizations,become therapists,doctors,authors of self-help and spiritual books,host talk shows... the list goes on... So perhaps this was Creator's plan all along and we should be thankful for many of the sufferings that have taken place and that we have to endure. Without them many people would not be who they are today- stronger, healthier, more forgiving, more helpful to others,more loving...

I once held on to a great amount of anger towards someone who had caused me pain for many years. One day a spiritual healer asked me to surround this person in light and send him love. I looked at the spiritual healer as if she were crazy! How DARE she ask me to do such a thing! How did she even think I would be capable of forgiving someone who had hurt me so bad?! I tried to remain open to what she was telling me, but honestly did not believe I could go through with it.Then she said something to me that grabbed my attention- "By forgiving him and sending him loving thoughts, you will free yourself and he will no longer have such a great hold on you". As I drove home after speaking with her, I thought of this sentence many times and just the idea of the freedom from the pain sounded so joyous and peaceful, yet far away at the same time.

About a week later I quietly sat down and asked Creator to help me do what needed to be done. I asked Creator to surround this man in his light, and then sent loving thoughts to him along with my forgiveness. Most importantly, I forgave myself for the choices I had made during those years, and took responsibility for them as well. The pain that I had been holding for so long in my heart slowly poured out as I wept tears of sadness and joy at the same time. That day I freed myself from the chains of resentment and anger... from the pain I had endured for so many years... and from the control of a man who would no longer control anything about me, or within me... I had healed myself with help from Creator, and from the spiritual healer who with one sentence... changed me, and healed me... I am thankful to her and to my experience, for it has made me who I am today.

The next time you think of the act of forgiveness, try not to only see the other person(s) as the only recipient... for you are the most important recipient involved... and you are well worth it.

Lisa Hoskins is a jewelry designer who owns Animal Spirit Jewelry. She has studied animals her whole life and is now blessed from Spirit to be able to create jewelry based upon the spiritual principles revolving around animal totems and guides, and spiritual principles.

You can find her website at http://www.animalspiritjewelry.com

*You may re-print this article as long as it remains as shown here with full bio and links attached.*

Demi Moore 'seeks spiritual help from Deepak Chopra' Digital Spy According to People, the Ghost actress is turning to the author of more than 60 books on spirituality and healing, following an incident in which she collapsed at her LA home on January 23. Moore has previously expressed her admiration for Chopra, ... Demi Moore Seeks Spiritual Guru Deepak Chopra's Helpallvoices Demi Moore Seeks Help from Deepak ChopraPeople Magazine all 4 news articles »

Rev. Linda Knieriemen: Pray for integrity in politics Norwich Bulletin So what's a spiritually conscious citizen who cares about electing leaders with integrity, intelligence and wisdom and who watches television, listens to radio or finds ads popping up on the Web to do for the next nine months? Stop watching TV? and more »

Church's New Rector Sees Social Justice as His Spiritual Mission Patch.com He says he sees himself as the church's “chief spirituality officer,” modeling a life of deep faith combined with service in the world. The arrival of Justin means goodbye to the Reverend Mark Shier, who served St. Michael's as an interim rector for ... and more »

Music channels God and spirituality Maroon Growing up as an LGBT person, understanding prayer and spirituality was a very difficult process. When taught to feel that unchangeable and inherent parts of myself were unacceptable in the eyes of God, I knew not how to seek or be a part of something ...

Spirituality, sexuality talk is set Poughkeepsie Journal “Radical Love: Taking Back Valentine's Day” will be the theme of Vassar's annual Religious and Spiritual Life Day today, to open up conversation about love, sexuality and spirituality. “Sexuality and spirituality often seem like strange bedfellows.

Spirituality: A lifetime of parenting in only 80 minutes The News-Press Whatever you think of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, you may want to say a prayer for his 3-year-old daughter, Isabella, who was admitted to the hospital last month with complications from a chromosomal condition called Trisomy 18. and more »

Spiritual beliefs can have psychological pros, cons BG News Pargament, a professor in the Department of Psychology, researches the aspects of religion and spirituality that can be helpful as well as harmful to people. "We think of religion and spirituality as a double-edged sword," he said.

Religious, spiritual knowledge can provide positives for all people BG News by Bobby Waddle When people ask me about religion, I often tell them that I simply don't think about it - I prefer to live my life in the moment and worry about the spiritual realm later. In proclaiming my agnosticism, however, I am still taking my own ...

Washington Blade

Romance and religion Washington Blade (Photo by Danisha Crosby; courtesy Round House) Sex and spirituality — or the lack thereof — intersect in thought-provoking ways in the flawed-but-worthy play 'Next Fall,” a 2009 piece that's enjoying a post-Broadway local run at Round House Theatre ... and more »

Demi Moore Seeks Spiritual Counseling Huffington Post Spiritual Counseling, well there's a waste of time. How about actual medical counseling. You know with Doctors and people with degrees. Ridiculous. cameron_d: Spiritual Counseling, well there's a waste of time. How about pathetic......truly pathetic! and more »