2. Aim To explain what forgiveness means.
To give an example of how someone who has shown forgiveness.

3. What Is Forgiveness?
Has anyone ever done something to you that really hurt your feelings and made you sad? How did you then feel about that person?
Often, when we are treated badly, we want to get our own back on the person who did us wrong.
Forgiveness is when stop feeling angry or resentful towards (someone) for an offence, flaw, or mistake.
forgiveness

4. World Faiths and Forgiveness
Many world faiths value forgiveness and encourage people to forgive others. Here are what some faiths say:
The Qur’an says “whoever forgives and amends, shall have his reward from Allah.”
In the Bible, Jesus taught his followers to forgive a person “seventy times seven” times – that’s 490 times!
The Talmud says “it is cruel not to forgive.” 
The Guru Granth Sahib (the holy text in Sikhism) says “Where there is forgiveness, there is God.”

5. How Can Forgiveness Be Good?
The Buddha said, “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else but you are the one who gets burned.”
Another person put it like this: “Holding a grudge against someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”
This means that forgiving someone is good for the person giving forgiveness.

6. Rachel Friedman
A lady called Rachel Friedman was having a party to celebrate her upcoming wedding.
While they were having fun, one of Rachel’s friends pushed her into a swimming pool. Rachel’s friend didn’t notice that they were standing by the shallow end of the pool. As Rachel fell into the pool, she hit her head on the bottom and broke her neck. Rachel was paralysed from the neck down.
Although Rachel will never walk again, she chose to forgive her friend.

7. Corrie Ten Boom
Corrie Ten Boom was a very brave lady who helped protect Jewish people in the Netherlands during the Second World War.
Corrie and her family were arrested and sent to a prison camp. While they were there, Corrie’s sister Betsy became ill and died.
Years after the war had ended, Corrie was preaching at a church. At the end of the service, a man approached Corrie. He had been a guard at the prison camp and wanted forgiveness.
Corrie shook the man’s hand and forgave him.

8. The Vietnamese War
In 1972, a nine-year-old girl called Kim Phuc was caught in bombing raids during the Vietnamese War. She was hit by something called a Napalm bomb, which left her whole body badly burned.
Kim was in hospital for 14 months and had to undergo 17 painful operations.
Despite her suffering, Kim made the decision to forgive the people who injured her. She said, “Forgiveness made me free from hatred. I still have many scars on my body and severe pain most days but my heart is cleansed.”

9. What Do Other People Say about Forgiveness?
“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude.” Martin Luther King Jr
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Mahatma Gandhi
“It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.” Maya Angelou

10. Time to Reflect Do you find it easy to forgive people?
Do you find it easy to say sorry to people you have upset?
How can you show forgiveness to people in the future?