Hal Elrod describes forgiving his father for abandonment as the moment that unlocked his ability to write and changed his life. He argues that forgiving fast matters more than the forgiveness itself, using the metaphor of holding a hot coal to show how resentment only burns you.
Chapters
What are some of your other favorite habits that you would share? Forgive fast is one of my favorite habits in the book. We all know we need to forgive, but forgiving fast gives it a tangible thing that you can do. And I thought back to my life when I actually forgave fast, and it changed my life. I forgave my biological father for being a horrible father, for leaving when I was a year old, for abandonment. Before that, Hal, I knew I wanted to write, but I couldn't write. And I went to visit him. I forgave him. I came back. And looking back, I remembered, oh, that's when I started writing, after I forgave. And so the whole idea is that the faster you forgive, the sooner you start growing. What happens if I would have forgiven in my 20s and not waited? I could have started growing in my 20s. So I'm now encouraging people, forgive fast. Release that burden you're carrying. Release the wrong that someone did to you. Just forgive fast. Let it go. It's like you're grabbing onto this hot coal. Mm-hmm. And you want to throw it at someone, but you're the one who's getting burned. But the minute you release it, you're now free and you can start healing and growing. And so it's just something that's so simple. And yet if we do it, it's going to change the trajectory of our life.
