Healing Our Hearts
Through Forgiveness
How can we forgive those who do not want to be forgiven? Our deepest desire is that the forgiveness we offer will be received. This mutuality between giving and receiving is what creates peace and harmony. But if our condition for giving forgiveness is that it will be received, we seldom will forgive! Forgiving the other is first and foremost an inner movement. It is an act that removes anger, bitterness, and the desire for revenge from our hearts and helps us to reclaim our human dignity. We cannot force those we want to forgive into accepting our forgiveness. They might not be able or willing to do so. They may not even know or feel that they have wounded us. The only people we can really change are ourselves. Forgiving others is first and foremost healing our own hearts.”
—Henri J. M. Nouwen,
Bread for the Journey
Forgiving others is one of the hardest commands Jesus gives—but it’s also one of the most healing. When we hold onto bitterness, it slowly hardens our hearts and steals our peace. But when we forgive, we release the burden we were never meant to carry. Forgiveness doesn’t mean pretending the hurt didn’t happen—it means entrusting it to God, who is just and merciful. In choosing to forgive, we make space in our hearts for God’s healing presence to enter, and in that space, we begin to find freedom. Jesus modeled this for us on the cross. When we follow His example, we begin to experience what He intended: a life not chained to the past, but free to walk in grace. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics