Forgiveness and Freedom

"I forgive you." These three words can be freeing and liberating if said with conviction and deep belief.  However these same three words can sometimes be used emptily.  What do these three words really mean?

To forgive can mean "I know what you did was wrong.  It hurt me deeply.  But I also know you are not perfect.  You are human. I am human, and I am imperfect.  What you did was wrong, but I have also done things that were wrong.  Perhaps you did not do it with the intention of hurting me.  Maybe there are things unsaid that needs to be said.  Maybe there was miscommunication.  But all I know is that I am hurt.  I am hurt but I can still see the goodness inside of you.  I know you are good because God created you.  Moreover, if God can forgive me, what is holding me back from forgiving you?  I forgive you because I am forever grateful to God for forgiving me and for loving me."

Forgiveness is the acknowledgement of the present situation, the acceptance of the outcome and consequences, the sitting with and the processing of the feelings involved, and the awareness of God's love for me.  To forgive is to know God's love.  To forgive is to be grateful to God who first forgave me.  To forgive is to step out of the darkness and into the light of freedom.  The freedom that comes with being a child of God.  The freedom of being God's beloved.  And, being God's beloved means that I know who I belong to.  I belong to the Father who, knowing my sins and weaknesses, loves me as I am and meets me where I am.  In this meeting is the encounter of love, the encounter of the Father saying to me: "I love you, and I forgive you."  Forgiveness is first, seeing the Christ that is in that person, and second, allowing the Christ in me to encounter the other with compassion and love.       

Did I forgive today?  "Father teach me to forgive by seeing you in the other and loving them with your love."

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