Power of Forgiveness

Copyright © 2022 by Dr. David Green.

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Rev. date: 04/27/2022

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgement

Purpose

Chapter 1     Questions: What Are Obstacles Or Life Challenges?

Chapter 2

Chapter 3     My High School Years

Chapter 4     My Experience With God

Chapter 5     Serving God In An Unsaved Home

Chapter 6     They Turned Their Backs On Me

Chapter 7     Looking For Love In The Wrong Place

Chapter 8     Developing Trust Among The Team

Chapter 9     Church And Business World

Chapter 10   Persevere In Difficult Times

Chapter 11   Forgiving My Parents

Chapter 12   The Key To Having Victory In Pursuing God’s Mission.

Chapter 13   Leading Through Crisis

Chapter 14   Do Not Let Your Circumstance Determine Your Destination

Prayer of Thanksgiving

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Before starting this book, it is important to recognize those who have helped me most and have had an impact on the person I am today. First, I would like to thank Mr. Taylor, my high school teacher for continually pushing me with a plethora of constructive criticism and counsel throughout my high school years. Next, my stepmother Greta Cousins, who has helped me forgive those that have wronged me and provided valuable insight about forgiveness. Finally, I would like to thank the Lord for having forgiven and continually forgiving me of my sins and letting me experience what true forgiveness really is.

I dedicate my first book to the persons who have made me the person I am today. First, I thank God for his grace and mercy toward me and for allowing me to write this book. To Mammy, my Grandmother, the late Deta Hamilton of Swift River, Portland Jamaica.

Thank you for taking me in when no one wanted me. To my stepmother who helped me throughout school and kept my dreams alive. Through her, I have come to the understanding that to achieve anything, it requires faith and belief in myself, a vision, action, hard work, determination, and dedication. At the anchor of her teachings, it remained true that all things are possible with God. Mr. Taylor was the only teacher who invested time and believed in me. To my wife Lisa who inspires me each day. The person who constantly reminds me that I am not alone. To my children Tamika, Monique, and Pierre the light of my life. Finally, to my church brothers and sisters, behind every great leader, there are the prayers of faithful saints. You have held me up in your arms, you stood behind me when the storm and tides close in on me. Many times, when I felt like giving up, you were right there praying with me and for me. Thank you, it is through your prayer and support today our church can triumphantly march onward against all odds. Yes! Despite the many challenges, you have been my rock.

To the people of Brampton who have elected me to be your representative at the school board table for nineteen years. Thank you all for the role you have played in my life. I am here today because of your encouragement and support.

PURPOSE

This book aims to help young Christian men and women understand that forgiveness is the key to overcome pain, hurt, and harm caused by others and triumph to success.

I will use my own stories to help my readers to understand that life is full of challenges. And how having the right mindset can help overcome these challenges and reach your goal in life.

What is forgiveness?

The meaning of forgiveness is often defined as an individual, voluntary internal process of letting go of feelings and thoughts of resentment, bitterness, anger, and the need for vengeance and retribution toward someone who we believe has wronged us, including ourselves.

Our capacity for forgiveness is a part of human nature that has evolved in the process of natural selection, and according to evolutionary science, it developed in the same way as our tendency toward revenge.

Both forgiveness and revenge are social instincts that solved problems for ancestral humans. Although both are fixed aspects of human nature, these capacities can be altered which gives us hope.

Forgiveness shows that the emotional and cognitive process is characterized by the releasing of anger, and anger elsewhere has been proven to have negative physical, emotional, and cognitive consequences over time.

We are told by Worthington and Scherer (2004) that unforgiveness when considered as a negative emotional and cognitive construct causes stress. This implies that forgiving can be used as an emotion-focused coping strategy, and therefore could contribute to overall health.

CHAPTER 1

Questions: What Are Obstacles

Or Life Challenges?

Vocabulary.com dictionary defines a challenge as a verb; derived from a Latin word meaning to accuse falsely, and is still used much as it was in the 13th century, in the sense of questioning whether something is true or right. Students sometimes challenge a weeknight curfew, and lawyers might challenge the evidence submitted by the other side in a lawsuit. Challenge is also used as a noun for a competition in which people challenge one another to prove that they are the best at something. In short, a challenge is something that tests one’s strength, skill, or ability, especially in a way that questions one’s will or power.

In my research, I realized that different authors look at life challenges in distinct ways. Here are a few examples to explore what that looks like...how they expound.

Life is full of challenges. Some people seem to meet every challenge with confidence, while others struggle to overcome them. Pittas especially get a sense of satisfaction from facing challenges head-on—it brings a sense of accomplishment and can be very fulfilling. On some level, you seek challenges. Your highest self wants you to learn and grow, and life’s most effective tool toward growth is experience.

The problem is that all too often you might find yourself faced with the same challenges over and over again, and that’s when you start to lose motivation to face the issue and lose sight of the potential lesson. At that point, challenges can become problems that can spiral into despair and frustration.

I believe that everyone has problems or challenges to overcome every day. Even people who proclaim that they are ‘perfect’ have problems or challenges to overcome every day. I myself am faced with challenges and problems everyday. No one in this world will not have any challenges or problems. They will have some type of challenge or problem, but I believe anyone will be able to overcome those problems. Sometime when I have problems in my daily life, I think of them as challenges to overcome. When you overcome those challenges, trust that you will feel a small victory. I believe that no one should challenge a problem in their daily life because it is inevitable you will face adversity in this life.

Everyone has problems. For the most part, we can quickly solve them without much trouble. We either come up with a quick solution or use a strategy that worked in the past. For example, if you overslept in the morning and are going to be late for work, you might decide to call work and explain your situation while getting dressed and ready in half the usual time. Problems become more difficult when there is no obvious solution or strategies which you have tried in the past, do not seem to work. These types of problems cause a great deal of stress and anxiety and require new and different strategies.

Finally, according to the Edgar Cayce philosophy, each person living on the earth is here for a specific sole purpose; a purpose that no one else can fulfill. While for some people, their purpose might be directly related to a profession or vocation, for others it could simply be a way of living day by day. Finding and then understanding and living your soul’s purpose is a life-long process. As your knowledge grows and deepens, you will find greater and greater opportunities for fulfilling your life’s mission

As for me, I believe there are no accidents to how we were created and the challenges we are faced in life, when God created man He made it clear in his words. He stated in John 16:33 In this world, we will have trouble, but in Him, we will have peace. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

As a person and a Christian, one thing that I’ve learned is that everything that happens in our lives is for a reason. I believe that reason is to help us grow strong in our faith, especially when we become a part of the body of Christ. It has been said that life must be lived in a forward motion; but that can only be understood when we can see beyond our circumstances. This demands that we trust in the loving purposes of a sovereign God. We must trust that He is in control – even when things seem to be out of control: He reminds us, I know the plans I have for you; plans for your welfare and not for evil (Jeremiah 29:11). If we are to overcome challenges and obstacles, we must develop a strong mindset that could help in overcoming challenges with anything that comes our way. To do this, the first step is to trust the plan that God has for you even when it doesn’t make sense. God’s plan for your life may seem unconventional and mysterious from your limited human perspective. But whenever you decide to trust God’s plan, you can count on God to deliver on his promise to bring all of your circumstances – even the toughest challenges, to pass to accomplish his purposes in you.

God’s plan for your life is in your best interest, so choose to follow it faithfully by seeking God’s help to solve your problems rather than trying to solve them in your own way. Always ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and help you dispel fears. The more you focus on God’s plans for you, the less afraid you become and willing to take chances. I believe in time God will reveal his plan for you, simply follow it as best as you can, day by day. And for you to succeed, you must be willing and obedient to say yes let thy Will be done – even when it does not make sense – and you will make real progress overcoming your challenges.

The reality is, that at some point in life, we all go through a struggle. But to overcome them, we must be strategic in how we choose to respond. We have the power to develop a mindset that we are here for a purpose and a reason, and I am going to live out my purpose as long I am on this earth.

These challenges come in many forms. Such as dealing with violence, crime, mental health, addictions, family failure, marriage breakdowns, not getting along with parents, loss of job, not doing well at school, financial worries or people that you look up to, failed and let you down. Regardless of the challenge, facing you. Be confident that, that challenge or obstacle has never killed anyone. When I was about 20 years old, I was reading about the different types of obstacles and challenges that a person has to deal with in life and I came across this research that identified external and internal obstacles.

• External obstacles- External obstacles are those that are outside of your control. Examples include the economy, natural disasters, physical limitations, and the actions of the people around you. While these obstacles are outside of your control, it does not mean you simply throw up your hands and give up. What is in your control is your own behavior and how you react and deal with the external obstacles that are thrown at you.

• Internal obstacles-Internal obstacles are those that you do have control over. Some common examples of internal obstacles are needing more money, wanting a promotion at work, trying to lose weight, and improving a strained relationship with your family member or other loved one.

Habitual obstacles- Habitual obstacles apply more generally in your life and may only be eliminated by making a global change. Common examples of habitual obstacles include feeling constantly stressed out, getting angry too easily or being prone to procrastination

President John F. Kennedy, in his speech accepting the Democratic nomination in Los Angeles (on 15 July 1960) said, ‘We stand today on the edge of a new frontier … but the new frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises – it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them.’

Life is a set of challenges, problems, and hassles. We sometimes imagine that if we could just deal with the immediate challenge that we are facing, all our problems would be over. But life is not like that. If we resolve one problem, others are just around the corner waiting to creep in.

Growing up with a single parent present can come with many emotional challenges because they are never home, always working, and sometimes working two or more jobs. This leaves them no time to attend a parent council meeting, check their child’s homework, and make sure they stay engaged in school.

Being a single mother can also leave you wondering how to navigate the unknown avenues of parenting. This leaves children facing a lack of guidance and discipline. Because single parents are often absent from the home, children tend to get into trouble.

When there are no parents, present children are more likely to have behavioral problems. Some of these behavioral issues need immediate attention, if not they can worsen over time.