The Importance of Forgiveness

Take our Empathy Test

Find a therapist near me

Resentment is the opposite of forgiveness. Resentment is to feel anger again until we become paralyzed.

The person we cannot forgive is unlikely the one who becomes lonely. That person is us.

Forgiveness frees us up to trust again—just not necessarily the person we need to forgive.

Resentment is peaking these days. It’s become almost impossible to escape, as it’s highly visible to all of us, especially in political arenas all over the world.

Given that political polarization is now—in the United States at least, as I document in another post—at its highest level since the Civil War, it is safe to say that resentment is experiencing unprecedented popularity and becoming one of the most common emotions of our current generation.

Resentment is the opposite of forgiveness. A word derived from the Latin roots re (again) and sentire (to feel), resentment is to feel anger again and again until you become paralyzed.

“Resentment is like drinking poison,” said the fourth-century theologian Saint Augustine, “and waiting for the other person to die.”

A recent Pew Research Center survey reveals that the percentage of Americans who view the Republican or Democratic party unfavorably is remarkably similar (58 vs 59 percent, respectively). Political polarization shaped by ideological divides occupies center stage, a stage in which the actors who foment outrage, vitriol, and an unwillingness to let go of age-old rivalries are constantly rewarded. A........

© Psychology Today