So, there’s this thing that you’ve probably heard of. It’s called forgiveness. You’ve heard of it, right? Yeah, me too. You know, when you’re a little kid, you say something that’s not nice to your sibling or a kid at the park. Your mom or dad says, “Okay, you need to apologize and ask for forgiveness.” So, you do it. Most likely, you didn’t even mean it or care enough, we were little kids! They’ll get over it. But! It’s not as simple as that.

We all need forgiveness. Throughout the Bible, it’s said many times to forgive others. God wants us to forgive others just like He forgave us.

When we forgive others, we are saying, “I love you as a brother/sister in Christ, and I don’t want to fight or have anything for you or me to have against one another.” We not only receive the awesome feeling of that burden being released off our back, but we can also hear a loud cheer saying, “Good job!” from God. It hurts him to see His children fighting, but when we forgive each other, it makes Him smile.

Buuuuut, forgiving those who hurt us deeply is so dang hard. It’s way easier to hate them or have someone to blame, right? But, (One,) it’s not healthy for us to hold that hate in our hearts. It disrupts our everyday life, ruins our sleep, and is not how God wants us to feel. (Two,) it isn’t setting a good example of Christ and His love. When He was on the cross, Jesus shows people that He can forgive the dudes who were literally killing and torturing Him!

Luke 23:34 says, “And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34 ESV.) Jesus asked God to forgive them, even when he was being mocked and tortured and eventually, killed.

Now, when we forgive people, does that mean we are forced to like that person? Not necessarily. While we should love everyone as Christ would, we don’t have to be best friends with that person. Jesus forgave those who persecuted Him, showing that He loved them! We don’t have to have those people over for Sunday dinner every week, but we don’t have to be cruel, thinking that they deserve it because they were rude. Never think of forgiving as an obligation. Forgiving people is a gift, and if you don’t want to forgive them, don’t say that you do. (That’s technically lying. God said not to do that either.) You can only truly forgive them from the bottom of your heart with the help of God and the Holy Spirit.

~Willow