This is something to remember when they decide not to forgive you. There are times when you hurt others. Intentional or not, it doesn't really matter. We continue to harm others with our actions, so we try to compensate. It breaks our hearts to realize that we are hurting others. We ask for forgiveness, hoping that we will receive mercy from those who have offended us.
However, there are times when we cannot be forgiven no matter how sorry we are. No matter how hard we try to get it right. And it's hard to accept and let go of the injustice we feel when we don't get the forgiveness we've been hoping for.
But here's something we need to remember.
It is your responsibility to admit your mistakes. To control your actions. Ask for forgiveness. Fix what you can. Let go of what you can't do. Learn, grow, recognize and change your own behaviour that hurts others. Make a conscious decision to get better and take the necessary steps to do so.
We have no control over what other people think of us or what they choose to believe about us. We can ask them to stand in front of them and see us, with our hearts in our hands, not about what we made, but who we are. But we cannot force ourselves to forgive someone who has decided to believe only the worst of us.
_This is a difficult lesson for people like us. _
People like us who believe in forgiveness. Someone who understands the human, how we fail and fall. Who believes that people are good and we won't fully understand their choices until we walk a mile in their place.
We are a people who believe that mercy triumphs over judgment, and we choose to love others with grace and a second chance, understanding the fragility of our humanity. And it can be hard to accept that there are people who don't live that way and don't love that much.
But the important thing is that these people are neither our judges nor our juries. We do not belong to their courts. What they want to believe about us is their choice, and who we are is not determined by what they try to make us believe.
When we take responsibility for our actions, when we acknowledge and try to correct our mistakes, when we seek forgiveness and achieve reconciliation, we have done everything necessary. We are no longer bound by their unforgiveness, but we can leave knowing that we are worthy of our own grace.
It is not true what others want to believe about us. This is just their opinion.
But if we do our best, it is no longer our burden. Just because someone doesn't want to forgive us doesn't mean we can't be forgiven. Freed from their unforgivable chains, we can now run freely under the heavens of grace and redemption.