What magnanimous means?
According to Oxford Languages, it means “generous or forgiving, especially towards a rival or less powerful person.”
Recently I watched a series, a prince was wronged several times by his father the King.
Although, he had the power to crush his father and usurp the throne, he chose not to because, then the country would be in chaos. He considered the overall situation and willingly surrendered to his father, allowing himself to be degraded and humiliated.
The opposite of magnanimous is petty.
I can be petty, (working on that) so I know:
Petty means that you repay everyone in their own coin.
(Give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar right? — okay I may have taken that out of context)
If they are rude you’re ‘ruder’, if they’re inconsiderate you call them out on the spot.
I mean it can be nice right? exposing and exerting revenge on an original villain. (In real life at that)
Sometimes, it’s a thing of rights.
Sometimes, I’m unable to let go of the slightest wrong.
I’m unwilling to yield any right to myself, unwilling to be taken advantage of.
As proper sounding as ‘refusing to be taken advantage of’ sounds, it is actually a small minded way of living.
With time, it becomes all about you, there’s no family, no organization, no country, no people, it’s just ‘me me me.’
If you’re working for a goal bigger than yourself however, you’re able to cast the ‘me me me’ persona aside.
I’ve found a goal bigger than me, but for a long time, I’ve been jumping on and off the band wagon. (It’s not easy to follow Christ)
Being magnanimous is hard, these people have a huge heart, are able to consider the bigger picture and touch lives in no small way.
That’s how humanity has come this far.
A few people in history have always chosen the bigger goal over self, Mary Slessor, Martin Luther King and many more famous Trail Blazers you know.
Magnanimity and Forgiveness
Forgiveness and forgetting
Forgiveness and still loving
You can forgive someone for having lied but it’s hard to get rid of the notion that the said person is a liar.
That’s where the difficulty comes in, after we know the true nature of a person can we still give them a chance to be human? Do we have disdain for the kind of person they are in our hearts?
I’m not asking to trust a liar again, I’m asking to love and just keep giving them a chance.
Being generous and forgiving may look foolish to many people but it’s the best way to live.
It’s the path I’m choosing.
Edit: Being magnanimous is hard!
I mean in the moment that I choose to overlook someone’s trying to be smart or someone who deliberately wronged me but afterwards I really do feel good about my little win ☺️
Hi, I’m Nguper I write about self development, faith and philosophy and I also write a weekly health newsletter on hale-hearty.
