Forgiveness is a very important part of our Christian life. Christians are familiar with the example Jesus gives us how we should pray in chapter 6 of Matthew. We call it the Lord’s Prayer. The NLT translation reads, “…and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” It doesn’t get more important than that, does it?
One of my friends recently posted a quote from Mother Teresa. “Forgive them even if they aren’t sorry.” I commented, “Only God’s forgiveness benefits the one forgiven. Our forgiveness is for our own benefit.” Holding a grudge against someone only hurts you – not them. It is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.
Please don’t misunderstand, forgiving someone doesn’t give them permission to hurt you again. It simply means you have moved on from that experience. with or without them. That is actually an action of love. The definition of love in the 13th chapter of 1st Corinthians includes”Love keeps no record of wrongs.”