"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." - Lewis B. Smedes
It is said that, to err is human, to forgive divine. And there is more truth to this than we even realize. Doing the impossible, and forgiving someone who has hurt you or your loved ones, truly is like setting yourself free from shackles. It takes more energy to hold on than it does to let go. More energy to hate than it does to love. Hate drains us; whereas, love fills us up. It is healthier for us to let go and forgive; it provides us with relief and removes the weight from our heart and soul, when we do.
That is part of why it is said that, “to forgive [is] divine”. We are not built for bitterness, resentment and hatred. We are built to love and to forgive. To forgive others, and to forgive ourselves. We are built to love; purely and rightly. To love, purely we need to let go of all of the things that keep us from doing so. One of the most important of these things, is to forgive.
Forgive those who have wronged us or hurt us in some way. Forgive those who have wronged or hurt those of whom we love. Forgive our loved ones, our friends, family and our neighbour; for whatever they have done that we consider harmful in one way or another. And, to forgive ourselves. To allow ourselves to be forgiven. Not to allow people to continue hurting you or your loved ones. Not to allow those who don't live from their heart, rightly, back in your lives, and not to allow the harmful behaviours to continue; but to let go of these things. To free yourself by letting go and forgiving.
Forgiveness is a powerful weapon. Against whatever enemy we are facing. Against hatred and and anger. Against the antithesis of love; darkness. We need to let the light into our lives and into us, in order to live and love rightly; purley. Forgiveness is a divine gift. The most precious gift we are given, other than love. It’s the hardest thing to give but the most beautiful thing to receive. It's part of loving rightly. It is the hardest thing to do but it frees us by doing it; frees us to love purely and rightly when we give it. Frees us to be loved purely and rightly. To live our purpose without the prison and shackles that not forgiving keep us in.
To err is human. To forgive, divine. We are human; we will make mistakes. We will harm one another; whether intentionally or unintentionally. We need to know this, and need to realize that, in our humanness, we get caught up in why we shouldn't forgive the unforgivable. We don't want to forgive because we think that it will set free, the person or thing that hurt us. In our humanness, we think that by forgiving, we are pardoning the behaviour or accepting that the harm was done and that it was okay for it to be done to us, or those we love. But forgiveness is not human. Forgiveness is, in fact, divine. Forgiveness exists not, in the darkness where the harm was done, but in the light where love exists and can heal the harm that was done.
To find divinity; to walk in the light and serve one another rightly; we need to love, purely. In order to love purely, we need to allow forgiveness in our lives. We need to give it freely. To ourselves, and to others. To forgive the unforgivable and to love the unlovable; to set ourselves free by forgiving wrongs. To escape the prison we keep ourselves in when we wallow in the darkness and hold on to what doesn't bring us peace, light and love. By forgiving, we are set free and we can love and be loved. Forgiveness over bitterness and contempt. Love over hate. Light over darkness. These things free us. These things keep us going. It is also said that you cannot pour from an empty cup. Hate drains our cup. Love fills it up. Forgiveness exists inside that love.