Coming in a close second to “I’m sorry”, the words “I forgive you” may be the most difficult three-word combination for any human to utter. No, let me rephrase that. They may be the most difficult to utter honestly.
I don’t normally go around quoting Alexander Pope, but he hit the nail right on the head when wrote “to err is human, to forgive is divine.”
Now don’t get me wrong, I haven’t always had such a forgiving heart. I could have been labeled as a “Master Grudge-Holder” not so long ago. Betrayal was not something I took lightly, and I figured one act of dishonesty or maltreatment was enough for me to completely dismiss a person from my life. No looking back. No second chances. I even remember times when someone would challenge one of my unwavering grudges with a comment like: God forgives us all of time, why can’t you?” Then, I would slyly reply, “In what world do you think I am on the same level as God?!”
As you can tell, I was clearly delusional.
Why is it that we give so much power to those who have wronged us? When we hold on to grudges, not only does it drain us spiritually, it often doesn’t even make the person we are holding the grudge against break a sweat. Without their knowledge, we unnecessarily hand over our day-to-day emotional state to someone who is probably still going about their carefree lives.
About a month ago, a female friend of mine (who is actually more like a sister than a friend) and I exchanged rather unflattering words after we let rumors interfere with our relationship. As most of us do when engaging in arguments, she threw a few verbal punches that were extremely below the belt. A couple of weeks went by before we looked each other in the eyes, let alone spoke to one another.
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