Forgiveness

J. Wakeham wrote on forgiveness the other day, and what she says is so simple and yet profound:

"I finally realized that forgiving someone doesn’t mean that what they did was okay. Doesn’t mean what they did wasn’t wrong. It just means that you’re going to let it go, fly away to the Almighty Judge, the true owner of Vengeance. We don’t have to carry anyone else’s crimes. We merely sentence ourselves with unforgiveness."

Isn't that so true? And I think it points out a problem that so many people have with forgiveness. If you forget the "God part" of the equation, when someone tells you "you just need to let that go" you think to yourself "let it go where - into the ether somewhere - what?" Because really, without God, there is nowhere for your grudge, your unforgiveness to go if you decide to let go of it. If we don't have the assurance that there is the One who will sort everything out in the end, then we're tempted to hold onto anything - anything - more out of fear of having nothing left in our hands in the end. With Christ, we have so much more to grasp onto, so much Life before us, we don't need to carry anything else with us but that.

So forgive one another, as He has forgiven you! Say it out loud - let everyone know - that you release them to nothing less than the grace and love of our Savior!