Unforgiveness

So I've been reading the book "Every Woman's Battle" and it has a section on unforgiveness. Did you know that having an unforgiving spirit can manifest itself in physical and psychological problems? Psychologists report that unforgiveness causes negative feelings about people in general, failure to recognize and enjoy potentially good relationships, and the following psychological problems:

- chronic anxiety
- serious depression
- general mistrust
- poor self-esteem
- anger and hatred
- resentment

The following physical consequences of unforgiveness are also cited:

- rush of hormones exhilarate heart rate
- limits or shuts down immune system
- chances of heart attack increase by 500 percent
- risk of high blood pressure and cholesterol
- enhances risk of blood clots and cancer

Maybe you find that you are experiences a lot of these symptoms - could it be that there is someone in your life whom you have never really forgiven? When we don't forgive, we are blocked spiritually - we can't grow. Paul warns that Satan uses unforgiveness as a tool to bring about our destruction. Forgiveness foils Satan's plots to stunt our spiritual growth. The book went on to list some steps to enter the process of forgiveness:

- acknowledge your anger and hurt- it is very real and God knows it is there
- realize that holding on to this pain only holds you back
- consciously let go of any need for revenge
- consider the source of your pain: Hurting people hurt other people. Put yourselves in their shoes.
- Pray earnestly for those who hurt you, asking God to heal the wounds that cause them to wound others.
- Pray that your wounds do not cause you to do the same to others.

The comment that "hurting people hurt other people" really struck me and I find a lot of truth in it. While that of course is never an excuse for hurting other people, it's something to think about if someone has hurt you - maybe they have a lot of other stuff going on in their life that is causing their bitter or angry spirit...

What do you think?