Forgiveness...

FORGIVENESS

As parents, mothers, friends, sisters, brothers, and any other relationship in our life, forgiveness is vital to that bond (and in some cases, lack there of). After a lot of careful thought, reading and bible study, I found these quotes to be the most compelling, honest and closest my heart:

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you ~Unknown

Anger make you smaller, while forgiveness forces you to grow beyond what you were" Cherie Carter Scott

-This one especially hit home with me, because I was angry for a long time over a certain situation and when I began to let go, I felt free, free as a bird. As I let go of more and more anger, I flourish in my personal life, in the best of ways. I'm calmer, I'm more intuitive, I'm a better mom and wife and I'm more dedicated to all of the relationships in my life. I have the time to develop true relationships (and by true, I mean, no masks, no fake personalities, just ME).-

We all have to forgive hurt at some point. And when I say forgive, it does not mean what they did was okay. It means that you are done hurting and are ready to move on ~Rana M

-Again, hits home with me, BIG TIME! I always thought that to forgive someone was to say "It's okay and what you did to me is okay," but that's not the truth. Forgiveness is a gift from God for us to stop the hurt that we feel. Only then can we move forward with our lives, free and clear of that pain-

Forgiveness does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future. ~Lewis Smede

-Memories of the past, good and bad, can always help us to make changes for a better future-

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." ~Desmond Tutu