Forgiveness and Health

Forgiveness is not easy, no one said it was.  But unforgiveness stores in the bones and tissues and I believe it can cause disease.  

Tom Valeo wrote an article for WebMd on this very thing and he says, "Forgiveness can bring enormous benefits to the person who gives that gift, according to recent research*. If you can bring yourself to forgive and forget, you are likely to enjoy lower blood pressure, stronger immune system, and a drop in the stress hormones circulating in your blood, studies suggest.  Back pain, stomach problems and headaches may disappear.  And you'll reduce the anger, bitterness, resentment, depression and other negative emotions that accompany the failure to forgive."

Life isn't easy and I don't pretend to have this figured out, but the research makes a good point.  In Jesus' own words he says in Matthew 6:14, For if you forgive other people, when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you.  This is a pretty heavy concept and one that is very difficult to grasp.  But if you watch this video featuring Corrie Ten Boom, a survivor of the concentrations camps in Nazi Germany talk about forgiveness, it will really make you think .

*Everett L. Worthington Jr., PhD, a professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University and the author of Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Theory and Applications.  

See: http://www.thepowerofforgiveness.com/