Practicing authentic forgiveness may be the most neglected element in the process of life transformation. Practicing forgiveness is the way God heals the human soul from the crippling damage caused by sin.

Imagine for a moment that every human being is given at birth a backpack. This backpack must be worn every moment of every day and night. Now imagine that every time someone is sinned against, a stone is put into that backpack. Big sins mean bigger stones, and small sins mean smaller stones are put into the backpack. In addition, every time a person sins, he or she puts a stone into his or her own backpack.

Over time everyone’s backpack gets heavier and heavier.

Since people can’t take off their backpacks, they must learn how to function with them in place. People learn how to cope with the weight of their backpacks. Some people become very good at carrying heavy loads while others make excuses, take pain killers, complain or are crushed.

The point is this: everyone is forced to cope with the damage sin causes—until we start practicing forgiveness. Receiving God’s forgiveness, forgiving other people and asking other people to forgive us is the only way in which the stones—one by one—are removed from our backpacks. People who do not practice forgiveness are forced to continue to live with the crippling burden of the weight of their backpacks—they cope with the problem rather than let God relieve them of it.

In order to help people better practice all three paths of forgiveness, we have created an entire ministry called "Forgiveness Ministries." Its purpose is to create materials and distribute materials designed to help people better understand forgiveness and how to practice it as a lifestyle.

Learning how to practice authentic forgiveness is essential to every person.

Walnut Creek Friends regularly offer special workshops on this topic and make these available to the general public. See our calendar for the next workshop and contact our office for a registration form or visit our website at Forgivenessministries.com.