Forgiveness

"I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men."

You know, before this last Sunday, I had believed that I had forgiven those who had trespassed against me.  That I had forgiven all those who may have hurt me, or offended me, or made me feel insignificant.  I had believed that I had forgiven myself.  But, that was not the case.

I learned a lot about forgiveness this last Sunday.  I learned that when it comes to forgiveness, it is not just "forgive and forget."  Heavenly Father forgives and forgets, but we don't always forget.  Sure, over time, we may forget the main details, or really forget what even happened that made us feel the way that we did.  But we won't ever forget the lessons that we learned.  We won't forget how that experience made us feel, and how we never want to feel that way again.

I have learned, while going through this process of forgiveness, that I don't need to forget the lessons that I learned.  What I do need to do is forgive without reserve, completely, wholeheartedly, and let go of the barrier that I have placed between myself and the person.  I need to realize that, with that barrier, nothing will get better.  I need to let go of the pain, but I don't need to forget th lesson I learned.

So, to those who I may not have forgiven yet, be patient.  It will take time, but trust me.  You will be forgiven.