The Power of Forgiveness

I recently saw something on a church sign that hasn't left me. I've found myself thinking about it often.

Forgiveness doesn't change the past,

but it enlarges the future.

The more I've thought about, the more I've realized the truth contained in those few words.

When we refuse to forgive, our world grows smaller. The longer we refuse to forgive, or the more people we refuse to forgive, the smaller our world grows. Because we stop being able to trust people. So we being to live isolated lives where we keep people at a distance - even those who were once close to us.

But when we choose to forgive, our future grows. We're no longer held back by what someone else said or did.We're free from them and have great opportunity to move forward. To move beyond what happened and see what God has for us. Our future is enlarged - both in potential relationships and potential opportunities.

All the good that forgiveness of others can bring into our lives, doesn't mean forgiveness is easy. It usually isn't. Forgiveness is hard because it goes beyond what we naturally want to do. It's counter-intuitive.

Thankfully, we don't have to do it on our own. We can ask God to help us forgive and He will. He is the ultimate example of forgiveness for and He wants the freedom forgiveness brings for us.

Forgiveness doesn't change the past,

but it enlarges the future.