What is Forgiveness and Why Does It Matter?

What Is Forgiveness?

Before we dive in to the more hands-on content of this 30 day challenge, I think it’s important that we’re on the same page about what forgiveness is. In tomorrow’s post, we’ll talk a little more about what it isn’t, and then we move into a discussion about why forgiveness is important.

Forgiveness can mean a lot of different things to different people, and in different situations. Forgiveness is the act of forgiving someone something. This could mean forgiving them for harsh words or unkind actions. It can also mean that we forgive a debt. That debt could be emotional (someone owes us a favor for example), or material and monetary (forgiving the $20 owed to you).

Throughout this article on a topic I believe to be of great importance, we’ll be focusing on the emotional forgiveness. In many ways, it’s much easier to forgive a material debt than an emotional one. In those cases when we have a hard time forgiving a material debt, chances are it’s because strong emotions are involved as well. Take for example the many cases when siblings start to fight and drift apart while dividing up their parent’s estate. Those fights and arguments aren’t really about who gets mom’s china or dad’s toolbox. It’s much more about dealing with loss, hanging on to the memories of loved ones, and making sure you get your “fair share” of that legacy.

Forgiveness then is the act of forgiving someone for something they have done to you. It’s about…