We have only this one shot at being a great Grandma or Oma or whatever your precious grandchildren call you. There are some things that will creep in and become a stumbling block, unforgiveness is one of them. Here are 5 reasons why I believe it is important to practice forgiveness, not just in the present, but looking back also.

1. There are many little eyes listening to you. The bitterness that has been left to smolder in your heart all these years has only matured. Now, that old wound expresses itself as you overreact or over reply to perceived offenses. Now those same young eyes are watching you and listening to you. What message are you giving?

2. Unforgiveness steals a bit of joy over the simple beauties of this life. That is sad because we won’t get these days back. We know this because we have lived long enough to know how precious life is.

3. Unforgiveness can be habit-forming. That is a terrible habit to get into. Unforgiveness is very weighty on our soul. We don’t want to carry that around with us. As we both know, life is too short.

4. We do not want to become that grumpy old lady that we have all met a time or two when we were growing up. We want to be kind and gracious. That only comes when we chose to forgive and forgive from the heart as Jesus instructs us to.

5. By this time in life, we have all lost a few friends along the way. Some because they moved away and some because that friendship was for a season. Some, however… it was a misunderstanding, or some decision made that hurt you. Look around, we don’t have that many friends left. Be gracious, let it go, and forgive. It sets a wonderful example for the little ones who watch us.

I know there are more reasons, but these are the first five that came to my mind. I hope that it gives you something to think about!