"Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others"
Colossians 3:13

Forgiveness is such a simple word, but is often a difficult concept to master. Forgiveness can be defined as "the process of ceasing to feel resentment, indignation or anger for a perceived offense, difference or mistake, and ceasing to demand punishment or restitution."

If that sounds daunting to you, then consider these powerful words from St. Augustine: "Resentment is like taking poison and hoping the other person dies." 

One of the foundations for a happy life is learning the art of forgiving. Holding onto anger, resentment, frustration and pain in your life hurts you more than anyone else. The misery bundled up inside of you can cause stress, depression, and even physical illness. So, aside from the fact that an unforgiving heart does not please God, it is actually in your best interest to figure out how to forgive!

But that person really hurt me!

This is where it gets especially tough—forgiving someone who has hurt you. It is a universal human experience to be hurt by others. But in order to truly experience joy in our lives, we must learn how to forgive those who have injured us in some way.

A good friend recently shared with me an experience in which she was struggling to forgive someone who had hurt her very deeply. And as it often happens, the offender was a person who had become very close. She was loved and trusted, which made her disloyal actions and words all the more devastating. My friend vacillated back and forth between wanting to retaliate and wanting to just put it behind her and move on. Throughout the ordeal, she noticed an alarming fact: her unforgiving spirit seemed to wield a certain power over her, making her into someone that she did not want to be.

Holding onto hurt only wounds your soul

This is the crux of the problem with holding onto resentment. When you refuse you to forgive, you are the changed party. You become a willing participant in perpetuating your own pain. You allow the negativity of your circumstances to multiply and spill over into your attitudes and actions. Think a moment and ask yourself: does the offender really suffer much under your resentment? Of course not, but you do! You take the poison. You primarily hurt yourself. Unresolved hurt festers within your soul and negatively impacts your future far beyond the situation itself. Holding onto hurt is an ongoing, continuous wound to your soul. Failing to forgive is giving power to your offender to continue to injure you, over and over again.