​Step Seven, Part 1

Choose to forgive those who hurt us in the name of religion.

We write a lot about forgiveness because we consider it the fundamental key to overcome any kind of hurts, disappointments, or abuses in our lives. Forgiveness and love work together to set us free from the abuses of the past. These two principals allow us to release the past, and also to transform it into something beneficial for the present.

Forgiveness is our choice. Because of our freewill, no one can force us to forgive. We can hold onto resentments, grievances, grudges, bitterness, anger, and offenses as long as we want. But, while we choose to retain those negatives feelings we also hold onto misery, gloom, sorrow, heartaches, suffering, worry, despair, and unhappiness. We also attract health issues such as headaches, depression, neck pain, high blood pressure, increased heart rates, and we become more susceptible to heart disease and other sicknesses.
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It doesn’t surprise me that an unforgiving heart can create physical as well as spiritual heart problems. But, the choice is always ours alone to make. We know smoking is harmful to our health, but many people choose to smoke anyway. Likewise we know that withholding forgiveness is bad for our physical, mental, and spiritual health, but many people choose to hold onto their grievances. They hurt themselves, and at times, can hurt the ones they love. If we want to live in freedom then forgiveness is the path of choice.