The Power of Forgiveness

This devotional reading by Johann Christoph Arnold on the power of forgiveness had quite an impact on me when I read it last night. As many of you struggle with forgiving certain people who have deeply wronged us, I thought that I might share some of the text with you in hopes that it would affect your heart as it has mine...

"To forgive is not just a command of Christ but the key to reconciling all that is broken in our lives and relationships. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.:

'Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkenss to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction...Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate; we get rid of an enemy by getting rid of enmity.'

I have lived long enough to learn that failure to forgive leads down a path of descruction — of bitterness, self-hate, alienation, relentless cycles od conflict, and downright misery. But forgiveness can vanquish all such pain. Why else did Jesus command us to forgive? It can heal both the forgiver and the forgiven. In fact, it could change the world if we allowed it to. But too often we stand in its way, not daring to let it flow through us unchecked. If only we would dare!

When Christians do put Christ's command into practice by forgiving, they create a ripple effect that can touch thousands of lives and even affect the course of history....

When we forgive we set ourselves free from the demon of bitterness. But we also set loose the power of love in the world."

If I say, "Yes, I forgive, but I cannot forget," as thought he God, who twice a day washes all the sands on all the shores of all the world, could not wash such memories from my mind, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
~ Amy Carmichael

Taken from Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter, 2003, The Plough Publishing House, Farmington, PA. pp. 361-364.