Forgiveness is not easy yet can be difficult, costly, painful when you have been betrayed. But, it's a way to grow toward being a happier, more loving person. Love and forgiveness cannot be separated. If we choose to live out the love of God as the purpose of our life, then forgiving is an option that cannot be avoided.
For if you forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly Father also will forgive you;
but if you do not forgive men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
~ * ~ Matthew 6:14-15 ~ * ~
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger
and clamour and slander be put away from you,
with all malice, and be kind to one another,
tender hearted, forgiving one another,
as God in Christ forgave you.
~ * ~ Ephesians 4:31-32 ~ * ~
But if any one has caused pain, he has caused it not to me,
but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to you all.
For such a one this punishment by the majority is enough;
so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him,
or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.
~ * ~ 2 Corinthians 2:5-8 ~ * ~
So if you are offering your gift at the altar,
and there remember that your brother
has something against you,
leave your gift there before the altar and go;
first be reconciled to your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.
~ * ~ Matthew 5:23-24 ~ * ~
Take heed to yourselves;
if your brother sins, rebuke him,
and if he repents, forgive him;
and if he sins against you seven times in the day,
and turns to you seven times,
and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
~ * ~ Luke 17:3-4 ~ * ~
Then Peter came up and said to him,
“Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me,
and I forgive him?
As many as seven times?”
Jesus said to him,
“I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
~ * ~ Matthew 18:21-22 ~ * ~
Forgiveness is not an occasional act,
it is a constant attitude.
~ * ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. ~ * ~
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