Forgiveness

Okay, let’s be real here.  Life isn’t always going to be rainbows and butterflies. People are going to hurt you and break your heart and talk shit behind your back. They’re going to mislead you and break your trust and shatter your faith. But at the end of the day, you have to forgive. You have to learn to give them the benefit of the doubt. Give them another chance. It’s only human to make mistakes and you need to remember that if you were on the other end, you’d want forgiveness too. Sometimes, even when they don’t ask for it, you still have to forgive them. Not just for them, but even for yourself. Because when you forgive someone, you’re not only freeing them from the burden of their sin, you’re freeing yourself from it too.
You know you keep wondering, how could they do that? After everything, why?
I suggest you put that aside. Because they’re not gonna have your answers. No one is. They did what they thought was right…or they knew it was wrong and they did it anyway. Irrelevant. Forgive.  And trust me; I know that’s so not fair. But then again, who said life is?
No matter how many times you’ve been hurt or backstabbed is irrelevant. You forgive them anyway. Forgiving people is not foolish or a sign of weakness. Forgiving, in fact, is power. And don’t just say it for the sake of saying it okay? Empty words are better left unsaid. Mean it. Mean each and every alphabet and then see how light you feel. Only when you really do forgive do you realize that you’ve been carrying the burden around with you as much as the person who sinned has. They might not realize their mistake. Forgive them anyway.  They might realize it but not admit to it, still forgive.
If God can forgive all your sins with the blink of an eye, then you can do the same for the people He Himself has created. Forgiveness isn’t even simply about a second chance, it’s also about belief. By forgiving someone you’re showing them that you believe. You believe that they can be better people. That they can do better than this. And honestly, who wouldn’t want to feel that way? Forgive no matter what they did. Nothing can be so punishable that they and you both have to carry it around for your entire life.
“We have to forgive to survive the labyrinth” - John Green