Non-Christians struggle with the idea of forgiveness, but for us it is mandatory. Still, we are only human so I have some advice about forgiveness.
Forgiveness is “letting go of resentment.” This does not mean you have to like the person who hurt you or continue to let that person persecute you. Actually, you don’t even have to be around people who hurt you if you don’t want to.
For years, I attended a church where another member absolutely hated me. I loved to talk about my involvement in 12-step programs and she was so narrow-minded that she spoke up against me. “I am tired of hearing about those steps,” she used to say. One day, she berated me at a committee meeting and I quietly left. I went home and wrote a letter to the pastor tending my resignation on the committee. I ended the letter with the lines, “You know, Christ asks us to love our neighbors and our enemies alike, but some people you just have to love from a distance.”
Forgiveness is not a constant state. It ebbs and...
