The Art of Forgiveness

Hi friends! Oh happy daaaayyyy!! 🤍☀️

Bear with me, it’s a long one today… we’re killing our ego this morning. 🫣

Today I want to talk about forgiveness. I know, odd topic for today… but hear me out!

As I look back at my own life, I’ve realized there have been times when I’ve lived a little hypocritically. I’ve said “I’m sorry” without truly meaning it, not necessarily because I understood how I hurt the other person, but because apologizing made me feel better about myself.

Oof. 😅 (what a selfish b***).

Then there’s the other side of it. Someone hurts us, they say “I’m sorry,” and our automatic response is, “It’s alright.”

But sometimes…it’s not alright, is it?

And when we pretend it is without actually dealing with the hurt, a tiny weed of resentment gets planted. If we keep watering it by replaying what happened, talking about it, holding onto the anger, waiting for them to make it right… that little weed starts growing and wrapping itself around our hearts.

When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He said:

“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

AS.

…LET ME COOK… 😂😂😂

That little word carries a lot of weight.

We ask God for grace, mercy, and forgiveness every single day. And yet sometimes we struggle so much to extend those same things to other people.

Now, forgiveness does NOT mean what someone did to you was okay. It doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be boundaries. It doesn’t mean you have to allow someone back into your life, or pretend something didn’t hurt you. It means recognizing: what they did is theirs to carry. How I respond is mine.

And sometimes, we also have to understand that the way someone treats us has far more to do with what is happening inside of them than it does with who we are. Their actions are their responsibility. We can't control whether someone apologizes. We can't control whether they understand how deeply they hurt us. We can't control whether they change.

Their actions belong to them. Your response belongs to you.

We can choose to stop carrying something that someone else did. Because when we choose forgiveness, we aren't saying, “What you did was okay.” We're saying, “What you did will no longer have control over my peace.” 🤍

And I think there is so much freedom in that.

When we live from a place of forgiveness, we make less room for resentment and more room for peace, growth, freedom, grace, love, and genuine joy.

And sometimes forgiveness also requires looking inward and asking, “Where do I need to take responsibility? Who have I hurt? Where have I been selfish? Where have I expected grace without extending it?”

So today, I can GENUINELY say: I'm sorry.

Forgive me for the times I've been selfish. Forgive me for the times I haven't extended the same grace I've wanted for myself. Forgive me for the times I've allowed resentment to grow instead of choosing understanding, forgiveness, and love.

I can't control anyone else's actions, but I can be responsible for mine. Because at the end of the day, we are all imperfect people learning how to love other imperfect people.

And so today, I choose to move forward. In this new season of my life, I choose forgiveness. I choose freedom. I choose joy, peace, grace, and love. 🤍

And “the greatest of these is love.” — 1 Corinthians 13:13 🤍

I love you! Have a beautiful day! 🫶🏼✨