How Easy Is It to Forgive?

How easy is it to forgive abusive parents? How easy is it to forgive the mother that never showed you love? The father who abandoned you? The brother who turned his back on you? 

How easy is it to forgive the relatives who chose to forsake you? The friends who betrayed you? The one who broke your heart?

Forgiveness is a choice. It is, however, one nearly impossible to make on your own.

There are wounds too deep to heal. There are hurts too strong to overcome. There is pain too awful to endure. There are blows too evil to forgive.

From our human perspective and by our mortal strength, that is.

The supernatural power of the Most High, on the other hand, can, not only patch up the broken heart, but restore it. He can seal the cut and make us new. He is able to make the pain go away and transform us. He is the One who can help us forget. He is the One who can teach us how to forgive.

Even if the relationship is never restored. Even if the aggressor is never repentant. Even if the oppressor never knows it. Even if there is no evidence of punishment.  Forgiveness is the one step we must take in order to find peace. 

Forgiveness is ultimately an act of love, not the kind of love that fizzles, not the kind of love that evaporates in the heat of life’s struggles. Forgiveness is a reflection of the Love that we carry inside, the Love Divine, the Love that sacrifices, the Love that is willing to hang on a cross for us…undeserving us…

How do we do the impossible, then? We don’t do it alone. We do it by the power of the Holy Spirit who transfers His strength to us as we invoke Him and as we move toward obedience. We do it repeatedly, over and over again, until the sincerity of our hearts inspires Godly sorrow for the one who hurt us…not seven times, but seventy-seven times, forever, until the pain is washed away.

How easy is it to forgive? Not easy, but not impossible either, thanks to Him, through whom all things are possible.

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."  Matthew 19: 26

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.   Colossians 3:12-14