My own view is that 'forgiveness' is mainly beneficial for self-serving reasons. That it is not healthy to carry around anger, bitterness or lingering hurt over something that cannot be undone. That it is beneficial to one's own state of mind to dwell on the past, and that we should try and recognise that we all behave in less than ideal ways from time to time but that does not mean that we are fundamentally bad people- and so we should recognise that in others too.
However, I don't see forgiveness as behaving as if the hurt had never been caused. It is perfectly possible to 'forgive' someone but to make sure that you don't give them a second chance to hurt you again. Or at least to give the person who has wronged you the chance to show that they can be trusted, but not to be giving of that trust until they have shown that it is deserved.
What does 'forgiveness' mean to you?
Join our Philosophy forum to discuss religion and spirituality.
Philosophy/religion
What does 'forgiveness' mean to you?
Thistledew · 06/06/2015 23:54
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
Don’t want to miss threads like this?
Weekly
Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!
Log in to update your newsletter preferences.
You've subscribed!
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.