Have you ever gotten to a point of hate?
Have you ever felt it was justified?
Have you ever relented to forgive,
But then been devoured by the hate and pain?
And your conscience constantly nagging
And saying, “Forgive,”
But you reply, “No, I won’t,”
Until something changes your mind,
And relenting and crying in your heart,
You finally say, “I will forgive,”
And gradually, the hate dissipates,
And a sense of calm overwhelms you,
Because you chose to forgive.
Sometimes, it can be hard to forgive and let go, due to the pain inflicted though, we know that it robs us of our peace and progress. But when we choose to forgive, we go through a process of gradual healing until we get to a point where we can face the person who had hurt us without a tinge of pain. At such a point, we have healed.
Kimberly Yates said in her speech, “Relearning Forgiveness,” that “the root word of forgive is give.” Indeed, when we forgive, we give ourselves the room for growth, and the opportunity to be at ease and peace even when the person who hurt us previously is in sight. We also give the offender the opportunity to be free of guilt for their wrong. It is up to us to give ourselves this freedom. Let’s forgive.
“Don’t be angry with each other, but forgive each other. If you feel someone has wronged you, forgive them. Forgive others because the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13, ERV).
“I believe forgiveness is the best form of love in any relationship. It takes a strong person to say they’re sorry and an even stronger person to forgive.” — Yolanda Hadid.
“When a deep injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive.” — Alan Paton.
“Forgiveness isn’t approving what happened. It’s choosing to rise above it.” — Robin Sharma.
Let’s forgive.
Originally published at https://medium.com/writers-blokke/forgive-poem-82492eaf6657