Episode 55: Accusing vs. Excusing, A Gospel for Victims, Knowing True Forgiveness to Heal Your Soul with Cheryl Witham

"Forgive and forget." That's the advice we're given as children, and as adults. But it's never quite that easy. We're offended by someone close to us, and we take on the mentality of the wronged victim in need of justice against the person who has wronged us. We take our case to God, the righteous judge, and tell Him to fix it, in the name of Jesus! But is that really the way we ought to think about such matters? Our guest today, Cheryl Witham will say the mentality just described is that of a victim. It is giving your perpetrator untoward power over your soul and is blocking your God-given right to true freedom and peace in your soul. Work out your own salvation, good Christian. Not that of the one who wronged you. For neglecting the need to forgive - even though you might never forget - will affect your own body, mind and soul for the worse. In this conversation with Cheryl, you'll discover: -How Cheryl realized that forgiveness is the true solution to our pain...05:00 -Excusing vs. accusing, and how the former blocks our ability to forgive...13:15 -The boots on the ground action steps of forgiveness...19:49 -Symptoms of unresolved and unforgiven offenses (spoiler alert, you might die)...23:05 -Forgiveness is not reconciliation; it precedes reconciliation...27:30 -What happens when you know in your heart you've forgiven the perpetrator...29:45 -The #1 thing people struggle to forgive...33:05 -How our own self-image (for better or worse) affects our ability to forgive and live a joyful life...37:45 Resources mentioned: Cheryl's book: Freedom, Forgiveness, How To learn more about Wendie and her Visibly Fit program, visit wendiepett.com To find out more about Todd and his coaching program for men, find him on the web at toddisberner.com. All the links you need to subscribe to the podcast are at both our websites! And if you feel so inclined, we'd be honored if you were to leave a rating and review of our show. It definitely helps with us being more visible to more people. And if we like it, we might just read your review on the podcast!