Forgiveness is letting go of anger and choosing not to hold mistakes against others. It doesn't mean pretending the wrong never happened. Rather, it means choosing mercy instead of resentment and giving someone the opportunity to learn and do better. How can we encourage forgiveness in our children? Be an example. When someone hurts you, let your children see how you choose calmness and kindness instead of revenge. Teach empathy. Help them consider why someone may have acted the way they did by asking, "How do you think they were feeling?" Encourage sincere apologies. Teach children to say, "I'm sorry," and also to forgive when someone is genuinely repentant. Avoid keeping score. Remind them that everyone makes mistakes and needs forgiveness at times. Why is forgiveness important? Forgiveness: Brings peace to the heart. Strengthens friendships and family relationships. Prevents bitterness from taking root. When can children show forgiveness? When a sibling breaks one of their toys. When a friend says something hurtful but apologizes. When classmates leave them out of a game. Whenever someone makes an honest mistake. Who benefits from forgiveness? Everyone does. The person who is forgiven has an opportunity to improve, while the one who forgives is freed from carrying anger and resentment. Forgiveness builds happier homes, stronger friendships, and a more loving congregation. A simple illustration is this: Holding a grudge is like carrying a heavy backpack everywhere you go. Forgiveness is setting the backpack down. The past doesn't disappear, but your journey becomes much lighter. 💙

Has anyone heard from Liam? Does anyone know if he's ok? I'm a bit worried. It's been so long since we last heard from him.

1.30pm or 3.30pm Bible reading and research At 7pm are the following: Monday: Family: What family means? How can you draw closer to your family? Tuesday: Sarah ( Abraham's wife) Wednesday: Dig Deeper: How Sarah demonstrated courage. Thursday: Two chapters of the book of Jeremiah and the spiritual gems that can be found. (10pm) Friday: Workbook on how we conform our life to Jehovah's ways and thinking. Saturday: What will help us remain loyal while under trial. Sunday: What is loyalty?

Breakfast: Vanilla Banana Smoothie 2 bananas 1½ cups purified water 1 tsp vanilla Cinnamon 2 tbsp hemp seeds 1 tbsp chia seeds Brunch: Apple Beet Juice 2 apples 1 beetroot Lemon juice Ginger Lunch: Tropical Green Smoothie 1 cup pineapple 1 cup mango Spinach 1½ cups purified water Hemp seeds Dinner: Gazpacho Smoothie 3 tomatoes Cucumber Capsicum Lemon juice Basil 1 cup purified water Need cautionary tips. Reach out.

Several factors can contribute to abusive behaviour: A desire for power and control. An abusive person may see the relationship as something they are entitled to control—who their partner sees, where they go, what they wear, or what they do. Entitlement. They may believe their partner “owes” them obedience, attention, sex, loyalty, or forgiveness. When that expectation is challenged, they may respond with intimidation or violence. Learned behaviour. Someone who grew up seeing violence, coercion, or controlling behaviour may learn that this is how relationships work. That can help explain behaviour, but it does not excuse it. Poor emotional regulation. Some people respond to jealousy, rejection, humiliation, anger, or frustration with aggression rather than managing those emotions safely. Jealousy and possessiveness. Extreme jealousy can become surveillance, isolation, threats, and eventually physical violence. Dehumanising their partner. The most dangerous perpetrators can stop viewing their partner as an autonomous person and instead treat them as something they own or have the right to punish. Escalation. Abuse can progress from criticism and controlling behaviour to threats, intimidation, physical assault, and increasingly severe violence. But there is an important distinction: anger does not cause someone to beat another person unconscious. Anger is an emotion; violence is a behaviour and a choice. Alcohol or drugs can increase risk in some situations, but they don't create an excuse for abuse either. An illustration may help: imagine someone becomes angry because another person disagrees with them. One person walks away, another argues, another seeks help—but an abusive person may decide, “I have the right to make this person submit to me.” The critical issue isn't simply the intensity of the anger; it's the person's beliefs about power, entitlement, and control. And when violence reaches the point of someone being knocked unconscious, that is extremely serious violence. It can cause brain injury or death. If you know someone or this is happening to you, don't treat it as merely a relationship problem that needs better communication.