Chapter 5: Anger & Forgiveness

Sure the argument can be made that these are not related… but I usually think of them as complementary. Anger and forgiveness go together like steak and potatoes. Yes, you can have either separately or even with a different dish, but together they are *chef’s kiss*.

I suppose you can’t venture down a healing journey without a good, hard, honest look at these two. I know this won’t be the last time I end up discussing the idea of anger and forgiveness, because I see them as a constant. Constantly around. Constantly in need of attention.

For me, forgiveness feels more difficult to handle and control than anger. I don’t feel like I hold on to those mad feelings and let them fester in me… most of the time anyway. But I definitely struggle with the idea of true forgiveness. The kind the Bible talks about.

If each time I am wronged by someone, I get one of these little anger emojis 😡 and then when I forgive someone, does the anger emoji go away? What if the anger emoji is still there, in the background. Maybe I can go days, months, years even without ever thinking about that particular anger emoji 😡. Is the anger emoji gone? Or just hibernating?

Is forgiveness giving that anger emoji away, or turning him into a peaceful emoji ✌🏼? If that’s the case, perhaps I have not fully forgiven. I feel like my anger emoji turned into a slightly less mad version, more like 😠. And he usually sits quietly in the background of my life.

Maybe time, space, processing will turn the red, angry faces into peace signs. I can feel that happening. I hope it does. I am not a fan of the toxic feeling those little red emojis create.

I am quite sure I will be revisiting these two at a later date.

Thanks for following along and supporting me through this. For the rest of the published pieces of my story, check out this page: Untitled.

The Bible study book I mention in the video is Seasoning Your Words by Nancy Eichman. You can use that affiliate link to order a copy.