Forgiveness Devine

-“Regret comes in all shapes and sizes. Some are small like when we do a bad thing for a good reason. Some are bigger like when you let down a friend. Some of us escape the pain of regret by making the right choice. Some of us have little time for regret because we're looking forward to the future. Sometimes we have to fight to come to terms with the past, and sometimes we bury our regret by promising to change your own ways.

But, our biggest regrets are not for the things we did -- but, for the things we didn't do. Things we didn't say that could've save someone that we care about. Especially when we can see the dark storm that's headed their way."

Everyone has a story, my story might inspire you. It begins with a need for love, a search for acceptance. Without it many of us feel bankrupt�"maybe even cheated. It's a fire raging within each of us yet subtly waiting for it to rain. Whether it be a friend, a mother, a father or husband. We all look for it.  
   Don’t run or look away when you receive it. It’s only love--and if you manage to acknowledge it with an open heart by not taking it for granted consider yourself lucky. Even better if you know how to return it.
Love, it isn’t easy to find. People just throw it around like a bad habit. To them, it is but a word. When spoken, it is as cold and hollow as the dark precipice that now occupies their soul. But love is more than a word, and more than a feeling. Love is a perspective. It is formless, unconditional, intangible. It has the strength to mend that which has been broken, but is also so delicate that the slightest whisper can dash it against the concrete. Treat love gently; carefully. For in the calloused hand, love can be used as a tool for destruction, and pain, and misery.

Lucky for me, my story isn't about the darkness that can exist within love. It's about the happiness, the luck I've had to feel true honest endearment. Love is passion for me. A friendliness that I have never taken lightly. They say, “it’s better to have loved and lost than never loved at all.” It’s true. I’ve loved and lost, within relationships, family and even friendships. But that doesn’t stop me. Not now and not ever, because even when someone stops loving me. I keep the love going. Never giving up, that’s true friendship, that’s love, that’s a christ like attitude. For Christ says that we must hate the sin, but love the sinner. To be washed in the blood of the lamb means to forsake wrath and turn away from anger, for the true path is not measured by our capacity to see the good in people, but instead to see the darkest parts of their soul, and forgive them anyway.

It’s a fact of life, people are going to hurt you. Sometimes, accepting the past as it is can be one of the most difficult aspects of life. Letting those you love be where they are at in life, even when you know they are making destructive choices. Choice. It was the greatest demonstration of God’s love. Of all His blessed creations, we humans were given the power of choice. The agency to choose what we want rather than being forced to do what we should. With that we learn and grow.

So, the next time you find yourself at the crossroads, that moment you need to make an important decision. Remember, the agency you were given defines the rest of your life. It only takes one minute to change your life and that lies in your hands. No one elses. So, remember to love, to forgive and to do what’s right. Not because you have too, but because you know you should. Remember, what you do in this world matters. For every action, there is a consequence. For every consequence, a memory and every memory changes a part of you. May you always change for the better.