Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. — Colossians 3:13
There is a common misunderstanding that forgiveness means excusing what was done, or pretending it did not hurt. It means neither of those things. Forgiveness is not a verdict on the other person's behaviour — it is a decision about your own future. To forgive is to refuse to let someone else's wrong become the thing that defines your life. It is one of the most courageous acts a person can perform, and it is an act only the strong can sustain.
Bitterness is heavy. It settles into the body, distorts our thinking, and poisons relationships that had nothing to do with the original wound. Many of us are carrying offences from years — even decades — ago, and we have grown so accustomed to the weight that we no longer notice it is there. But God did not design us to carry it. He designed us to lay it down. The cross was not just for the forgiveness of our sins — it was the model for how we forgive others.
I am not asking you to feel warmth toward the person who hurt you. I am asking you to make a decision — a decision you may need to make again tomorrow, and the day after that. Forgiveness is rarely a single moment; it is usually a practice. But every time you choose it, you reclaim a piece of yourself that the offence tried to take. This month, as we speak of love, let us go to the hardest and holiest kind — the kind that costs us something, and sets us free.
May God give you the courage to release what has held you, and the grace to receive the freedom that forgiveness brings.