Life Lessons from the Laundry Room

Now where is that other sock? It never fails; every time I do a load of laundry that contains socks, one is missing. Always! It may be my husband's, one of the kid's or one of mine, but there is always a sock that has lost its mate. I set them aside and eventually find the mate, but by then, another sock is mateless. It is continual, and I've gotten used to this happening. But I know, just somewhere in this world, there is a gigantic pile of mateless socks.

I used to use these socks to dust or clean, but now after several months of its mate missing, I toss the sock in the trash. I'm just tired of single socks everywhere. I like to have things in order and having unmatched socks just means that everything is not in its place. This got me to thinking about another Life Lesson from the Laundry Room: Forgiveness is Freeing.

Somewhere out there is a huge pile of unforgiveness just waiting to be addressed. It may be someone who wronged you by accident or a loved one that hurt you on purpose. You may be completely justified in your unforgiveness. However, when you hold on to unforgiveness, it just means that the individual who wronged you has a stronghold on you. You are still being hurt by the situation because every time you think about the person or event, feelings of hate, sadness, and anger well up within you. The mate for unforgiveness is forgiveness.

Forgiveness is an act by choice. You must decide to forgive. To forgive means to pardon an offense or an offender; to cease to feel resentment against. It may not be easy, you may not even want to forgive, but it is definitely freeing. It releases the stronghold that the individual or situation has on you. Forgiveness does not always mean forgetting. It does not mean that the consequences for wrong actions are dismissed. It simply means that you decide to let go of the ill feelings you have towards that individual. Forgiveness may lead to the restoration of a relationship or friendship, or it may not be in your best interest to keep in contact. Forgiveness simply means that you are now free to move on with your life. You have taken care of the looming unforgiveness and can start fresh.

"Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, also do ye." Colossians 3:13 (King James Bible)

Sources: www.dictionary.com