While forgiveness does not rewrite our past, it does allow for a much better future.
The problem with the situations that we live through that end up resulting in a need for forgiveness is that they leave scars in our lives. Sometimes we THINK we have forgiven people. We move on from whatever the situation was/is and we “think” all is well.
Yet, then something happens and the scars from past pains rub up against new ones and the rush of emotions of anger, betrayal, disappointment, hurt, etc. seem to surface all over again.
That does not have to be the reality.
Paul wrote in Colossians, “Bear with one another and FORGIVE one another.”
What if here we read the word forgive as “let it go?” And mean – REALLY let it go. Not just hold it up inside, hidden behind a scar. But we truly let it go. We acknowledge that the past pain and hurt do not have to define our future.
Forgiveness brings peace and hope.
What is something today you can “let go?”
Colossians 3:13 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord[a] has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.