Of all the classes I took in high school and four years of college, I don’t recall any of the curriculum's focusing on forgiveness. Now, had I been a theology or religion major, it is a sure bet that the concept of forgiveness would have been a prominent teaching throughout my education. Some may say that an understanding of forgiveness would come - or should come from attending Church, reading the Bible, or other areas of faith formation. For me, my faith and understanding of Christian principles did not begin to take root until I was twenty-three years old and had already said, “I do” to my spouse. I was spiritually tender at this time and just getting my feet wet, so the deep and wide concept of forgiveness was truly foreign to me. If I were to label what my perception of forgiveness was at this time of my life, a good description would be “forgiveness is letting someone off the hook” - a choice that didn’t even register on my values spectrum as a “control” person. My … [Read more...]