“When I started the Forgiving Path, I was skeptical thinking that the crimes committed will not only be ignored, “whatever” and my complaint won’t be heard, “so sad, too bad! Sucks to be you!”. After all, the judge of all the earth has much “bigger things to do”. After the station 7, I was able […]
When I went thru the Forgiving Path, I did so out of curiosity and with more of an academic mindset. I wanted to “check it out” to see if it really did work, if the FP could be an effective means to work out issues involving and understanding forgiveness. But I also wanted to understand […]
This quote is from an excellent paper “Justice: The Foundation of a Christian Approach to Abuse” (presented by Rachael Denhollander at the 70th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society) https://www.fathommag.com/stories/justice-the-foundation-of-a-christian-approach-to-abuse [bctt tweet=”…Forgiveness is not the foregoing of the claims of justice, but a recognition that in Christ, through the cross, the ultimate claims of […]
Check out this animated presentation by HonorShame.com. I love it. People who have been beat-up, robbed, oppressed, treated with disrespect, prejudice or bigotry, or abuse of any kind will always feel shame too. If you can’t forgive, one of the reasons is that you struggle with subconscious shame. The HonorShame folk have come up with […]
Check out this article by Dr. Andy Molinski. Very helpful. We have all had people badly apologize, and truth told, we’ve done worse. How does this fit in with the Forgiving Path for Christians? If I can tap into the love and compassion of the Spirit toward the person who I hurt, I am far […]
In a 2004 study of 16 Christian models of forgiveness, which largely evolved from secular studies in the mid ‘70s, it was typical that the bulk of the responsibility to forgive fell on the hapless, weary shoulders of the victim. The same idea covers virtually every non-Christian model that I have seen, and I have […]
Narcissists can’t forgive! OK, put this in the category of ‘No kidding!’According to a 2004 study by Julie Exline (et al) published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol 87, 2004), narcissism is a “robust distinct predictor of unforgiveness”.It would seem that the narcissisist’s innate expectation of special treatment and preoccupation of defending […]
Unforgiveness kills. It kills us as people. Recent studies have shown that couples who are harboring resent have higher cortisol levels in their blood. Cortisol is normally a good thing to our body, but if left at high levels for extended periods can lead to illness, fatigue, depression, or perhaps more serious physical breakdowns. One […]
I read a very insightful book by Terry Hargrave, Families and Forgiveness: Healing Wounds in the Intergenerational Family (New York:Brunner/Mazel Publishers, 1994). Very insightful and on point with the philosophy held by this website. It is particularly helpful to help us understand why so often our high romantic expectations of wonderful family Holiday gatherings don’t […]
The Disney blockbuster Frozen is portrayed as a children’s movie but it is loaded with adult emotional themes. In the movie’s opening scene, the two young princesses, Elsa and Anna are playing with each other. Elsa has a surprising talent. She can make snow, create ice, snowmen, frozen castles, with a mere flick of her […]