Good Leader, It's Time To Forgive

We live in a fast-paced world of opinion and offence.

We live in a world where people praise you for holding grudges and acting upon them.

We live in a world where people actually view those that 'declare war' as being more powerful than those who declare peace.

Contrary to popular belief, I stand by saying that it is much easier to hold onto a grudge. It is much easier to harbour resentment. It is much easier to block people out of your life as though they never existed. It is much easier to react emotionally in situations that make you feel uncomfortable. It is much easier to do something that doesn't require much self-control.

But at what cost? A wise man once said that holding a grudge is allowing someone to stay rent-free in your heart. Better yet, another wise man said: "resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."

Yes, society has its opinion on what a leader should look like but I like looking to the Greatest Leader of all time, the King, our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Why was His leadership so powerful?

His entire calling and life purpose was founded on forgiveness. God Almighty sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins: we were forgiven. Through the forgiveness of our sins, He was raised up and is now seated at the right hand of God.

Good leader, it's time to forgive.

Forgive your parents for not raising you the way you would've wanted to have been raised. Forgive your parents for sometimes being unable to protect you from the harmful ugly things of this world. Forgive your father for not being in your life. Forgive your mother for not being there for you when you needed her most. They weren't raised perfectly too. They did the best they could with the scars they themselves carry to this day.

Forgive your siblings, school teachers and anyone else in your life whoever told you "you're not good enough" so you keep pushing and striving and struggling to be the best to prove a point. Forgive the people who tried and still try to sabotage your journey and success. Forgive the people who made you feel unworthy of love. Forgive the people who hurt you - even those who hurt you to the core that you're thinking about as you read this. You may never find out why they did what they did and it's okay. It's time to forgive.

Forgive your co-workers and colleagues for spreading rumours about you. Forgive your boss for taking credit for the idea you put forward. Forgive your employees for saying the previous CEO was better than you. Anything you can think of - release it. Forgive.

Lastly, forgive yourself. When you were younger you probably made promises to your older self like: I'm gonna be a millionaire, married with 3 kids by the time I'm 30. But then - life happened and now you're 50, broke and divorced with no kids. It's going to be okay. Forgive. Forgive yourself for comparing your journey to your friend's journey and feeling inadequate. Forgive yourself for betraying yourself by doing things you vowed never to do but did them anyway to please someone else. Forgive yourself. Let it go.

Forgiving means understanding you've been hurt but not letting the situation or your feelings have power over you. You'll feel the pain. You'll cry the tears. BUT you'll know that you have the power because you have released the grudge, guilt and shame from your heart.

Forgive. Forgive. Forgive.

Once you've broken free then you can truly start focusing on making a real impact without any hidden agendas or any point you're trying to prove to anyone.

Good Leader, It's Time To Forgive so you can be a GREAT LEADER.