Forgiveness is a crucial component to your personal development. The reason that forgiveness is so important in your self development is not so much as what it does for the other person as much as what it does for you.

The Law of Compensation states that you get what you give. The way that this law works in regards to forgiveness is every emotion and negative energy that you are holding inside towards someone else you are actually inviting to manifest into your own life.

What I am saying is, rather you realize it or not, when you hold thoughts of hate, anger and resentment towards another person, place or situation those are the same emotions that you will experience in your life.

I am not saying to any person who has been the recipient of harm that their situation should be ignored nor am I saying that they should not experience any emotional response. What I am saying is that there is healing in forgiveness.

This is how, when you forgive a person, place or circumstance what you are actually saying to your situation is, “No I do not want to live my life as a angry person, No I do not want to live my life full of hate, No I do not want to live a life full of resentment”. And Yes, I want to experience joy in its fullness.

In order to experience joy in its fullness, you must release all negative emotions and replace them with positive emotions and with thoughts of love. When you practice unconditional love that is what you are inviting into your life. You do not have to be in the same room with a person to practice love. You can give just wish them thoughts of forgiveness.

Forgiveness needs to be practiced everyday. Some things are obvious that requires forgiveness such as when you make a negative comment when someone cuts in front of you in traffic and hold on to the emotion of anger all day. Other things may be hidden from your youth and requires prayer to be brought to your remembrance.

Remember that when you are practicing forgiveness that you are releasing what you do not want in your life anymore and making room for what you do want. Forgiveness gets your mind off of the accused and back on the experience of joy and fullness of life that want. Once you realize that you have control of your joy and that no person, place or situation can take that from you it changes your entire life.

The reason why forgiveness does not matter so much as what it does for the other person so much as it matters what it does for you is because it puts you back in control and let's you decide how you want to live your life. You can live your life in reaction to a situation or by responding to the situation. Again, I am not saying that forgiveness is easy but I am saying that it is healing and important in your personal development.

Author's Bio: 

I am a follower of Truth. I received my B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington and my Masters of Divinity degree from the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia. I have also studied Philosophy, Greek Mythology, Theology, Buddhism, Hinduism and Metahysics.

I am also the founder of the Guiding Hands Ministries Inc., a not for profit organization which feeds the hungry in Atlanta, Georgia.