When It's Hard · Conflict & Hurt
Struggling to Forgive
For when you feel: can't forgive, still angry at them, holding a grudge
And be ye kind one to another: merciful, forgiving one another, even as God hath forgiven you in Christ.
The MinuteHomily
It comes back at night, the thing they did, and you catch yourself rehearsing the speech you would give if you ever got the chance. That rehearsal is the prisoner's uniform of unforgiveness, sewn by our own hands. The offender rarely feels it, but we wear it everywhere. Scripture works from a different account. Forgive "even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you," which means the resource for forgiving is your own receipt, the record of how much you have already been released from. Forgiveness is not saying it didn't matter or didn't hurt; reconciliation and trust are separate roads, and they may take longer. Forgiveness is simply handing the debt to the only Judge qualified to hold it. Start there, even if you have to start again tomorrow.
By the MinuteHomily editors
A prayer for this moment
Father, I can't manufacture this. Out of the forgiveness You gave me, I release them to You, and I'll release them again tomorrow until it holds. Amen.
“It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”
Prayer of St. Francis
Hymns for this moment
“Make Me a Channel of Your Peace” · after St. Francis
“Attende Domine” · chant
One small step
Say their name and "I release you to God" once today, out loud, alone.
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