Forgiveness Is The Antidote

They say that holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. If that is true, then forgiveness is like drinking the antidote and expecting our enemy to be healed. When we forgive, we open our wounded hearts to God so that we may be filled up with the healing power of His Love and atoning sacrifice. But God is not interested in healing only us. When we are wronged or hurt by another, we are now linked with that person whether we wanted to or not. There is a shared bond of pain and trauma. When we forgive someone, it does not mean we sever that bond but rather the healing we receive from the Lord spills over through the bond to help heal the wounds of the one who wronged us. We have a choice. We can drink from the poison of resentment and anger and increase the pain and suffering for both of us. Or, we can drink from the antidote of forgiveness and increase the healing and peace for the both of us. We may not feel that the person who hurt us deserves healing and peace, but if we want these things ourselves, we must forgive them, and the more and more we do so, the more we will accept and welcome and even hope that they too will be healed and cleansed.