Forgiveness Activities Are Catapulted With This Story (+6 Quotes)

We don’t want our children doing what we did in traffic this morning: hooooonk!!! “@#$%&!”  We should’ve just left that guy alone and kept it moving. He was, after all, probably just a stressed and haggardly parent.

Not only can we lead by example, but we can use forgiveness activities and stories to teach children forgiveness and keep it going. 

Some of history’s most storied people were great forgivers.

Think civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. who said:

“Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act.” ~Martin Luther King

Motivational writer William Arthur Ward said: 

“To forgive someone does not mean you will forget what happened or that the individual is not responsible. Rather, it means that you will no longer allow the person’s words or actions to cause you pain.”  ~William Arthur Ward

Personal Stories Of Forgiveness In Real Life 

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Forgiveness is the attribute of letting go of resentful feelings toward someone. However, this can be difficult for anyone, let alone talking with a child about it. Equipping a child with the right tools for life extends far beyond education and hard skills.  The development of emotional intelligence in children can have a profound impact on their emotional well-being and mental health, in both their personal and professional lives one day. 

Opening up to your child about your own personal stories of forgiveness in real life can endow them with invaluable interrelationship skills, but also help you to forge a closer relationship with them. Furthermore, as parents, our responsibility is not just to ensure that our children are well-educated, but also to ensure they are well-equipped to handle life’s personal battles. Use the following short story as a conversation starter. 

 

A Story For You And Your Family Or For Your Forgiveness Activities

Get the printout here: Children’s Story Luke The Forgiver Alfie Vegan Popsicles

The Takeaway

When you don’t hold onto a person’s mistakes, you give them a fresh start. As we saw earlier, the young man in the story chose to do just that. He gave his friend a fresh start every time that he saw him.  Above all, he chose not to hold a grudge. 

Actually, forgiveness actually helps you more than it helps someone else because it forces you to grow. Moreover, when you forgive a person, you are helping yourself because you don’t carry the weight of resentment and harbor bad feelings.

When you keep unforgiveness inside of you, it only hurts you because you are the person who still feels angry or upset, or confused. But then the other person may feel nothing at all! 

Remember- Forgiveness isn’t accepting and forgetting someone’s mistakes, but it is letting them go and not trying to remember them because when you don’t forgive, you are only hurting yourself.

6 Memorable Family Forgiveness Quotes For Yourself Or To Use in Forgiveness Activities-

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-“Forgiveness is turning you back to the wrong that was done, while not shutting your eyes to the fact that it may happen again.”

– “Want an easier way to forgive others? Consider the benefits that it has to your mental well-being.”

– “Give mercy as many times as you want to have it. Seek revenge as many times as you want to receive it.”

– “The attributes of a strong person is to discover that the prisoner of unforgiveness is themselves, and upon realizing this, setting themselves free  through forgiveness.”

– “The ability to forgive is not the ability to forget. It is upon remembering the wrong that has been done to you, forgiving again, and again and again.”

– “The best way to fix yourself after you have endured a wrong is to forgive.  Equally, the best way to fix the person that has wronged you is to do nothing at all.”