The Freedom of Forgiveness

There is much freedom in forgiveness. Not that I would be forgiven, but that I would forgive others.

Because of forgiveness, I am able to congratulate an unwed couple on their pregnancy and really mean it. I have the ability to fight for the protection of my daughter while not having hatred eat away at my heart for the person who she says violated her.

Forgiveness doesn't make me less righteous. Forgiving doesn't mean that I condone or even support what you did--it just means that I can move past that and focus on the here and now and what is to come.

Forgiveness doesn't mean that I am weak. I don't have to forget what you did--in fact, if I am wise, I will remember it as a lesson to either not repeat your actions myself, or remember to not put myself in a vulnerable place with you.

I have the freedom to wake up every morning as a whole person. I have the freedom to know that I don't have to be concerned with anyone judging me about hanging out with the unlovely, the broken, the sinners--because, when I forgive you for whatever you may have done, I see you as the same as me.

There is weaponry in my act of forgiving. I become no longer emotionally involved by being offended. I am able to focus with a clear mind, being sound of thought, and careful to speak. When I forgive you, you lose power over my emotions and thoughts.

Arise warriors, and forgive.