Expert on forgiveness to speak at Heritage Church
Published 10:05 pm Thursday, November 7, 2013
- Everett Worthington.
A psychology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., will be at Heritage Church Sunday to discuss the need for forgiveness.
Everett Worthington, a clinical psychologist and professor, said he will be speaking at the 10:30 a.m. service Sunday along with a private event Saturday evening. He has studied forgiveness scientifically for more than 20 years and has found people need forgiveness.
If a person cannot give forgiveness to themselves, Worthington said they will encounter a lot of self-condemnation. Those feelings can then affect the person’s relationships with others and with God and even their health.
Worthington said he helps people forgive others, and he has found forgiving others may be difficult. He teaches that forgiving others is an act of a person’s will when they choose to forgive, and they lighten the load they carry and move toward inner healing.
“We may think that those who offend us do not deserve to be forgiven, nor do we feel like forgiving,” Worthington said.
Worthington has personally experienced the reality of forgiving another when, 17 years ago, his mother was brutally beaten and murdered in her home. His response was to forgive the perpetrator. In doing so, he said, he has a future to enjoy rather than a memory to ponder.
In order to find forgiveness, Worthington said a person needs to go through the process of mending the two different types of forgiveness. A person needs to make the decision or action to forgive, and they need to mend the emotions that come with giving forgiveness. To build positive relationships, it is best to deal with both of these different processes of forgiveness, he said.
Worthington said he has studied forgiveness scientifically for several years, and the steps he has found for creating forgiveness will work. In addition to his research and clinical knowledge of forgiveness, he will also share about his personal experiences and as a Christian counselor. He has written 30 books over his career, including 10 on forgiveness.
