Forgiveness 
The absence of it can kill you. The abundance of it can give you new life. What does it mean to forgive someone? “Forgive and Forget,” a popular phrase that seems to mean more about forgetting the person that wronged us than the hurtful act they did. To forgive means to fully understand the magnitude of hurt that someone inflicted upon you, absorb it, and choose to release it. To forgive someone means to set them free from the bondage of their shame, regret, and darkness. To forgive means to set yourself free from painful recollection of the damaging incident, to breathe new life into the wound, to be healed and restored. But beyond forgiving someone of what they did, true forgiveness incorporates a restoration of relationship. God’s love was displayed in greatness through his forgiveness. He held back nothing, no strings attached, no conditions. He simply gave up his rights to himself, fully understood the magnitude of our hurtful acts that separated us from him, absorbed it, and died to it. He totally set us free from our guilt and shame and brought us back to a place of relationship with Him. To receive that is to have new life. To reject that is to choose death. In this Holy Week, the week that Jesus went to the cross to offer us complete forgiveness and fellowship, will you receive his forgiveness and have new life?
The absence of it can kill you. The abundance of it can give you new life. What does it mean to forgive someone? “Forgive and Forget,” a popular phrase that seems to mean more about forgetting the person that wronged us than the hurtful act they did. To forgive means to fully understand the magnitude of hurt that someone inflicted upon you, absorb it, and choose to release it. To forgive someone means to set them free from the bondage of their shame, regret, and darkness. To forgive means to set yourself free from painful recollection of the damaging incident, to breathe new life into the wound, to be healed and restored. But beyond forgiving someone of what they did, true forgiveness incorporates a restoration of relationship. God’s love was displayed in greatness through his forgiveness. He held back nothing, no strings attached, no conditions. He simply gave up his rights to himself, fully understood the magnitude of our hurtful acts that separated us from him, absorbed it, and died to it. He totally set us free from our guilt and shame and brought us back to a place of relationship with Him. To receive that is to have new life. To reject that is to choose death. In this Holy Week, the week that Jesus went to the cross to offer us complete forgiveness and fellowship, will you receive his forgiveness and have new life?
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