The Hardest Thing to Give Away

Forgiveness. We are all familiar with the word, but how do we bring ourselves to do it. How do you possibly forgive the friend who broke your trust, the significant other who left you for someone else, the spouse who walked out on your marriage, or the parent who missed half of your life? How in the world can you look that person in the eye and finally say “I forgive you”.

We are only human. When we have been mistreated, wronged, and broken the last thing in our hearts and minds is forgiveness. Instead we carry this pain, resentment, and anger. Our hearts begin to harden without realizing it. Day in and day out we let the pain fester like an open wound that will never heal… until one day we have lost ourselves. We have lost what we once stood for and when we look in the mirror we don’t recognize the person looking back at us.

Have you been there? Have you looked into that mirror? I have… and I almost lost myself. I was consumed with anger, sadness, and bitterness. My life had been turned upside down. My future was uncertain. I had two small children to take care of with no idea how I was going to do it alone. My thoughts were so jumbled and full of rage. I had no focus anymore because I wasn’t even sure what to focus on. My days that were once filled with happiness and laughter, were now filled with anger and tears. I was simply going through the motions of life. One day, after a particularly rough morning, a pair of little blue eyes looked up to me and said “I got you mommy… I got you”. These are the words I always whispered to her when she was sad, scared, or hurt. In that moment my sweet, innocent little girl could sense the despair inside of me. I clung to her and smiled through my tears. I realized that in order to be the best mother, daughter, teacher, and friend that I could be… I finally had to let it go.

Forgiveness isn’t easy, and it won’t make the scars on your heart go away, but it cleanses your soul. You will never forget what happened, but you deserve to stop carrying the heavy load. You deserve to take a deep, refreshing breath. You deserve to smile, laugh, and be happy again. Don’t let someone else steal that from you. You don’t forgive for the person who hurt you… you forgive for yourself. You will forever carry the scars and memories of the battle, but your heart and soul will be released from the war.

Give yourself that gift today, and more importantly, never forget that Jesus is always with you. He is always saying “I’ve got you, my child, I’ve got you”.

“It’s the hardest thing to give away And the last thing on your mind today

It always goes to those that don’t deserve

It’s the opposite of how you feel

When the pain they caused is just too real

It takes everything you have just to say the word…

Forgiveness... Forgiveness”

Forgiveness by Matthew West