A Matter of Faith

A Matter of Faith
Will you choose Forgiveness or Bitterness?

By Carol Round
Special to ASSIST News Service

CLAREMORE, OK (ANS) -- "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you"-Matthew 6:14 (NIV).

Malala speaking before the UN

Listening to 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai's speech before the United Nations Youth Assembly, I was amazed by her capacity to forgive those who tried to take her life. Malala is a school pupil and education activist, known for her education and women's rights activism in Pakistan, where the Taliban had attempted to ban girls from attending school.

In October 2012, Taliban gunmen shot Malala in the head and neck in an assassination attempt while she was returning home on a school bus. In the days following the attack, she remained unconscious and in critical condition but recovered to continue her fight. In her speech before the U.N. she said, "Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorists group. I am here to speak up for the right of education of every child. I want education for the sons and the daughters of all the extremists especially the Taliban."

Malala's capacity to forgive those who tried to take her life should be an example to us all. Gerald G. Jampolsky, author of "Forgiveness: The Greatest Healer of All," said, "Imagine the peace that could come to our planet if all the people of the world would let go of old grievances with their neighbors. Imagine what could happen if we would all let go of centuries-old battles over racial differences, religious differences, and past injuries to one another!"

Malala in her hospital bed in Birmingham, England, where she was being treated

In "Forgiveness, God's Master Key," author Peter Horrobin uses a wonderful analogy. He says "our lives are like buildings with many rooms in them, and each room in the building contains memories of important events in our lives. Some doors are wide open all the time, including the rooms of memories we happily enjoy. Other rooms are closed because behind the doors is pain associated with bad memories, like rejection, betrayal, abuse, disloyalty, divorce and mistakes. Because we don't know how to resolve those painful memories, we shut the door on them and we lock the key, but as the years go by it gets harder and harder to cover up the hurt behind those doors."

How can you forgive someone who has hurt you? You can take the first step toward healing by celebrating International Forgiveness Day on August 4. Write a letter absolving someone who has hurt you. You can mail it, hand it to them, share it with a friend or tear it up afterwards. Whatever you do with the letter, you will feel much better without the baggage of unforgiveness.

Christian author, Lewis B. Smedes, once said, "Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future."

By forgiving her attackers, Malala has taken the first step toward healing and continues to offer hope to others.