Forgiveness offers everything I want.
1. What could you want that forgiveness cannot give you?
²Do you want peace?
³Forgiveness offers it.
⁴Do you want happiness, a quiet mind, certainty of purpose, and a sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world?
⁵Do you want to feel cared for and safe, always sheltered by the warmth of sure protection?
⁶Do you want a quietness that cannot be disturbed, a gentleness that never fades, a deep, abiding comfort, and a rest so perfect nothing can disturb it?
2. Forgiveness offers all this to you, and more.
²It brightens your eyes as you awaken and fills you with joy to face the day.
³It soothes your brow as you sleep and rests upon your eyelids so you do not see dreams of fear, of evil, malice, or attack.
⁴And when you wake again, it offers you another day of happiness and peace.
⁵Forgiveness offers all this to you, and more.
3. Forgiveness lets the veil be lifted that hides the Face of Christ from those who look upon the world with eyes of hate.
²It lets you recognize the Son of God and clears your memory of all dead thoughts, so that the memory of your Father may cross the threshold of your mind.
³What could you want that forgiveness cannot give?
⁴What other gifts worth having can be found?
⁵What fancied value, trivial effect, or fleeting promise, never to be kept, can hold more hope than what forgiveness brings?
4. Why would you seek another answer, when this one answers everything?
²Forgiveness is the perfect answer to all imperfect questions, meaningless requests, half-hearted willingness, and insufficient trust.
³This is the answer.
⁴Do not seek for more.
⁵You will not find another better than this. I
5. God’s plan for your salvation cannot change, nor can it fail.
²Be thankful it remains exactly as He planned it.
³It stands before you like an open door, with warm invitation calling from beyond, inviting you to enter and be at home, where you belong.
6. This is the answer.
²Would you remain outside while all of Heaven waits for you within?
³Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
⁴As you give, you will receive. II
⁵There is no other plan but this for the salvation of the Son of God.
⁶Let us rejoice today that this is so, for here we have a simple, clear solution, whose simplicity is not deceiving.
⁷All the complexities the world has woven with its fragile webs will vanish before the power and the majesty of this extremely simple statement of the truth.
7. This is the answer.
²Do not continue to wander aimlessly.
³Accept salvation now.
⁴This is a gift from God, not from the world.
⁵The world can offer nothing of value to a mind that has accepted what God has given it as its own.
8. God wills that you receive salvation today, and that the dream’s complexity no longer hides the nothingness it hides.
²Open your eyes today and look upon a happy world, where peace and safety reign.
³Forgiveness is the means by which this world replaces hell.
⁴The real world rises in quiet to greet your sight and fill your heart with deep tranquility as ancient truths rise quietly into your awareness, reborn forever.
⁵What you will remember then is beyond description.
⁶Yet this you will remember—forgiveness offers it to you.
9. Today we begin our practice by remembering the gifts that forgiveness brings us, with hope and faith that this will be the day salvation will be ours. III
²We seek it earnestly and joyfully today, aware that we hold the key to happiness in our hands, and accept Heaven’s answer to the hell we made—but no longer want.
10. In the morning and at night we gladly give a quarter of an hour to the search that ends in finding.
²Begin in hopefulness, for we have reached the turning point at last, where the road becomes far easier.
³And now the way is short that yet we travel.
⁴We are truly near the end of the dream. IV
11. Sink into happiness as you begin these practice periods, for they hold out the sure rewards of questions answered, and what your acceptance of the answer brings. V
²Today you will experience the peace forgiveness offers, and the joy the lifting of the veil provides.
12. The world will fade into nothing before your eyes, and you will see another rise in its place, one no words can describe.
²We go directly toward the light today, and receive the gifts that have been kept in store for us since time began, waiting for this day.
13. Forgiveness offers everything you truly want.
²Today all things you want are given you.
³Do not let your gifts recede throughout the day as you return again to a world of shifting change and bleak appearances.
⁴Keep your gifts in clear awareness, as you see the changeless in the heart of change, the light of truth behind appearances.
14. Be not tempted to let them slip away and drift into forgetfulness.
²Hold them firmly in your mind, and try to think of them at least a minute every quarter hour.
³Remember how precious are these gifts with this reminder, which has power to hold them in your awareness throughout the day:
⁴Forgiveness offers everything I want.
⁵Today I have accepted this as true.
⁶Today I have received the gifts of God.
I It is not only a matter of giving the Holy Spirit the responsibility of teaching us to forgive. This, of course, is fundamental and has already been clearly stated. But the scope of this teaching is much broader: we must entrust to the Holy Spirit everything that involves, for our mind, any kind of effort, stress, or disturbance.
Forgiveness is only one of the most obvious cases in which we recognize this effort. Forgiving can be an extreme act of mental tension when we feel that an offense has been serious. However, it is not limited to situations of forgiveness. Any circumstance that stresses the mind, even if apparently unrelated to forgiveness, must also be entrusted to the Holy Spirit.
Whenever we experience mental strain or effort, it means we are asking something of our mind that does not belong to it. To carry that responsibility is inappropriate. Each time we take responsibility for something beyond our capacity, what we are really doing is assuming a burden the mind is not designed to bear. That is where discomfort comes from.
Thus, any situation that causes mental unease—whether a daily decision, a personal concern, or any other source of stress—is a signal that we must hand that matter over to the Holy Spirit. It is not an optional gesture, but something necessary to maintain inner peace. The suffering mind is telling us: “This is not my business. This must be surrendered.”
Let us remember something fundamental: whenever we feel bad, it is because what we are thinking is not true. Likewise, whenever we experience mental effort, it is because we are trying to assume a responsibility that is not ours. When we move with ease, peace, and happiness in a matter, we may go on. But the moment effort or disturbance arises, it is the unmistakable sign that we must stop and hand it over.
This surrender does not imply negligence or passivity. It implies recognizing that we are not alone, that we have not been abandoned to our limited strength, and that no sacrifice of any kind is being asked of us. Jesus teaches us that sacrifice has no place on the way to God. We are not asked to suffer or struggle to reach peace.
What is proposed to us is something incredibly simple and liberating: every burden, every decision that exceeds the natural peace of our mind, must be offered to the Holy Spirit. And then, from that surrender, the answer will come effortlessly, guiding us toward peace and true happiness.
II Luke 6:37–38 “Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.”
The previous phrase also seems to echo Galatians 6:7: “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”
III To forgive—that is, to overlook your own malicious interpretations of the world—gives you everything you truly desire.
Surely, you spend your days striving to obtain specific things the world offers you, things that this Course calls “idols.” They are things you believe will bring you certain satisfactions.
Perhaps, at times when you study this Course, the thought crosses your mind that you actually lack faith. You may think that if you had more faith in Jesus’ teachings, it would not be so hard for you to follow His guidance. Be careful: do not be mistaken. You do not lack faith. All human beings are filled with faith to overflowing. It is impossible to live without faith. The issue is not whether you have faith or not—you have plenty! What you truly lack is good sense, not faith.
What happens is that you have placed practically all your faith in the things of this world and left very little for God. Your behavior is profoundly irrational, utterly contradictory, and extremely unwise. Yours is not a problem of disbelief—on the contrary, you are excessively credulous. You believe everything, and that’s how things go for you.
Pay attention, observe carefully, and try to reason the situation out. Look closely at your life. Examine in detail what things you pursue and where you dedicate your efforts. List them, name them, measure the energy you devote to them, and then, beside each one, write down the amount and kind of satisfaction they give you and how long their effects last. It’s a simple accounting exercise that should not be difficult for you.
Realize that the reason you pursue the idols of the world is that they promise to provide some desirable mental and emotional state. You do not seek the things of the world for their own sake—you seek them for their effects on you. Do you still think you lack faith? Don’t you see that you are actually wasting it on things that are not worth it? Wouldn’t you like to try something different, just to see what happens?
Jesus proposes something very simple: that you forgive. If you look closely, you will see that He is not really asking you to do anything. What He is actually asking is precisely that you not do what you are tempted to do—to judge, condemn, attack, and hold grievances. How can this seem so difficult to you? Why is “not doing” so hard for you? Are you beginning to perceive your own lack of sense?
Today’s Lesson consists mainly in keeping in mind at all times the gifts that forgiveness brings you, so that you may be encouraged to practice it. And realize, too, that forgiveness gives you those gifts immediately and without exception—you do not have to wait to enjoy them. You will experience them the very instant you forgive.
To make it easier for you, here is the list of gifts mentioned at the beginning of the Lesson. They are only part of what you will gain through forgiveness, but that will probably seem more than enough. So take heart—and go for it.
THE GIFTS OF FORGIVENESS
• Peace
• Happiness
• A tranquil mind
• Certainty of purpose
• A sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world
• The feeling of being cared for and safe, always sheltered by the warmth of sure protection
• A calm that cannot be disturbed
• A gentleness that never fades
• A deep and lasting well-being
• A rest so perfect it can never be undone
• Joy with which to meet each of your days
• Peaceful and happy dreams
• The lifting of the veil that hides the Face of Christ
• The recognition of the Son of God
• The cleansing of all dead thoughts from your memory
• The remembrance of your Father
IV Notice this promise Jesus gives you: the end of the dream is very near, for now you hold the key to salvation, and you need only use it.
V You have laid before the Holy Spirit all your sins, your fears, your resentments, and your desires. There you have abandoned them, and He has lifted your poor offerings to Heaven and returned them to you transformed into the sweetest gifts of love and peace.
Take them from His Hands, for that is what you deserve—not what you once had given yourself.