Forgiveness and Bitterness

Forgiveness and bitterness.  Without the first, you’ll limp through life with the second.  Misunderstanding can breed deep-seated bitterness, which doesn’t easily go away.  Forgiveness must occur if you ever hope to be free of your painful past.  It does not mean you agree.  It doesn’t necessarily mean you now have a close relationship with your offender.  But it does mean you let it go… forever.  And yes, to forgive does mean to forget.  Bitterness deposits dangerous germs in our memory banks.  It can cause disease that lingers and robs us of joy and peace as the years stack up.  So you must forgive and forget.  Bitterness replaces forgiveness, or forgiveness erases bitterness.  They cannot coexist.

If you’re reading these words and realize you’re consumed with bitterness, I urge you to come to terms with it and let it go.  You cannot change the past, but your bitterness can change you.  You must deliberately pursue forgiveness.  There will be other collision courses with misunderstanding….  They will burst upon you again and again, and your bitterness will only intensify, until you come to the place of full forgiveness.  And you will find, when you collide again with a misunderstanding person, you can handle it—you can let it go.

—Charles R. Swindoll, Getting through the Tough Stuff