Forgiveness is spiritual surgery on your own soul.
The first and sometimes only person to get the benefits of forgiving is the person who does the forgiving.
~Lewis Smedes in The Art of Forgiving
It is a process for me. Is it a process for you too?
When you forgive somebody who has wronged you, you’re spared the dismal corrosion of bitterness and wounded pride. ~Frederick Buechner in Listening to Your Life
Forgiveness is housekeeping for the mind
As we forgive, we taste the sweetness of freedom and the hope for a future without the pain our minds have consistently replayed. The other person may never feel a whit differently that (s)he did the moment (s)he wounded us. But we are set free by forgiving, and that is a divine miracle. ~Jerusha Clark in Every Thought Captive
Deserve has nothing to do with it:
Of course he does not deserve to be forgiven. Nobody does. {Even} being sorry for the wrong we did does not earn us a right to be forgiven. There is no such thing as a right to be forgiven. Forgiving flows always and only from what theologians call grace~~~unearned, undeserved favor. ~Lewis Smedes in The Art of Forgiving
Because of Grace :)
Filed under: Because of Grace | Tagged: Because of Grace, Forgiveness, Frederick Buechner, Jerusha Clark, Lewis Smedes |
BecauseOfGrace
Because Of Grace 
What a valuable but hard-fought lesson of life. God bless and keep you.
Shirley: thank you! Along the way there are blessings I never knew I would receive…such as your support and your beautiful blog…and a growing healing.
helen :)