THE COST OF UNFORGIVENESS - Cost VS. Benefit Analysis of Unforgiveness

How long do you want to have  unforgiveness? How long do you want to hold onto those negative emotions?  Are there truly benefits to staying offended, or is it costing you more than you realize?  What if there was a better way to move forward? Let's understand your situation better by  looking at a true story of a young woman who lost her leg in a car accident that wasn't  her fault. Like your own personal battles with hurt and offense, she was a victim  who suffered an unimaginable injustice. T

hink of the pain and anger most of us would  feel with such a terrible loss. For many years after the accident, she struggled with no sleep  as she would wake in the middle of the night, screaming from excruciating  phantom pain in the knee and ankle of the leg that no longer existed.  She couldn’t massage her missing leg or even itch it – because there was no leg  there. Only pain and sleepless nights. Worse than that, her life became consumed with  anger toward the man who caused the accident,

which quickly moved into a “Why me” rage  against God that filled every fiber of her being. It didn’t take long before her  ideas about God were shattered. First, she asked, “What did I do to deserve this?” but soon decided it was God’s fault. After all,  if God was all-powerful and loving, why didn’t he simply prevent the accident. Given these complex  questions, with inadequate answers, she decided to throw God out the window – no different than when  she stopped believing in Santa Claus as a

kid. A couple of years later, her lawsuit against  the man and his car insurance company ended with her winning a million-dollar plus  judgement against him. Now she had money, but in her mind the worst part was that he  never apologized to her. Even with the help of coaches and counseling, she could not shake  the fury and the scowl that burned into her face. As time went on this woman worked hard –  harder than she ever could imagine as she threw herself into her work. Anything to  avoid the

pain of being home alone. She figured no one would want to marry or have  a relationship with a one-legged woman. Her isolation didn’t make her depressed,  nor did it lead to alcohol or drugs, but in her case, anger became her “go-to-guys”  as the hardness on her face continued to grow. Eventually, she learned how to run with her  artificial leg. She successfully ran several marathons and admits that the driving force was an  “I’ll show you” resentment. Everywhere she went, the memory of that ma

n who hit her, was right  there with her. When she crossed the finish lines, her anger toward him crossed with her.  Even though she had done something great, she felt no joy, had no victory dance and no one  to celebrate with. Instead, she continued with her isolation and went home night after night  all alone, accompanied only by bitterness. On the fifteenth anniversary of the car accident,  she was so consumed with unforgiveness that she forced herself to call the man who hit her  so she coul

d demand an apology. Surprisingly, the man agreed to meet with her, so  she prepared her speech and was ready to literally tear him apart – tear  off his leg – for what he did to her. When they met, to her total surprise, she  discovered the man had suffered tremendously since the accident. He too couldn’t sleep, was  racked with guilt, got divorced, lost his job, and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder  since the accident. Just like her inability to forgive God or him, his inability to

choose  to forgive himself had cost him everything. Suddenly, the woman said she was able to  take her eyes off her own pain and look at the pain of her offender. Because  of this, she says she is now, finally, able to forgive and finally feels free. Today,  she tells her story to anyone who will listen, hoping to help them avoid the terrible pain she  suffered for so many years. But it’s no surprise when she tells her story, how everyone can still  see the hardness that became embedded on her

face. What an enormous cost to both the man and woman. How can anyone possibly put a price-tag on this  cost of unforgiveness? The truth is we rarely add up all the costs of unforgiveness. Instead, we  hear Satan as he screams – warning us as loudly as he can that forgiveness will cost us. He continues  to say, “know your rights,” “stick to your guns,” and “you deserve to be mad.” Then Satan whispers  that giving up these things will cost us dearly. Isn’t this what happened to the woman  who los

t her leg? But it’s interesting to see how unforgiveness cost her an  enormous amount – perhaps more than anyone can ever know – for 15 years.  There is no doubt that unforgiveness is a big reason for so many divorces, broken  relationships, and so much anger in the world. Unforgiveness is indeed expensive, especially  when we are the ones who have to pay the price! As we stand at this crossroads, we are faced with  two opposing paths to choose from. On one hand, we can follow the alluring call

of Satan's "know your  rights" mantra, allow ourselves to be offended, and let the cancer of unforgiveness seep into  our minds and relationships at the cost of our own happiness. On the other hand, we can choose  to take charge of our lives, confront this cancer, and discover the true freedom that forgiveness  brings. Remember, it's natural to feel overwhelmed by the thought of forgiving someone who  has wronged you, but don't be fooled by lies – taunting and telling you that the cancer  of unf

orgiveness is somehow the easy path. The truth is that unforgiveness cancer  will steal our joy, kill our relationships, and destroy us in the process. We need to  get smart, fight back and win this battle because God knows, with a little bit of  help, we can do just that! So right now, before you close this video out, make a decision  to watch one of our next two recommended videos, or visit CureTheCancer.org. We’ll see you there!