7 Best Forgiveness Quotes – Letting go this Christmas

Merry Christmas…or not?  Christmas can be a time of high tensions for many, a time to reflect feuds and quarrels!  Instead of being a time of festivity, a time when family and friends come together to celebrate Christmas and indeed share love and joy, can instead be a time of war between those nearest and dearest to us.

It often seems easier to forgive an ‘enemy’ than to forgive a friend.  My pastor always says in December that it is a month to FORGIVE, FORGET and REACH OUT!  Christmas is an opportune to forgive and bury the hatchet.

Think about it – the best gift you can give this Christmas is the gift of forgiveness.   It is a priceless gift and has immeasurable rewards.  It sure will make you happier and healthier too, not just mentally better but physically too.

Here are some things I have collated from the web and from the Bible that will help you to forgive…and forget.  Remember forgetting is part of the equation too, but we will look at that another time.

#1  Holding anger is a poison.  It eats you from inside.  We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us.  But hatred is a curved blade.  And the harm we do, we do to ourselves! – Unknown

#2 “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” – Louis B. Smedes

#3 “Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me.” – Anonymous

#4 If you feel “stuck” today, you may want to examine what you’re holding on to. Be willing let go of past disappointments by choosing forgiveness. Who hurt you? Who wronged you? Release it to God. Do you need to forgive yourself? Do you need to receive God’s forgiveness? Let go of the past so you can overcome disappointments and experience the bright future God has in store for you! There is freedom in forgetting! ~Joel Osteen

#5 Forgiveness does not change the past but it does enlarge the future – Paul Boese

#6 Forgiveness does not need apology as a receipt – Zoë A Onah

#7   Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? “Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”   – Matthew 18: 21-22 NIV

Quote Number 7 shows us the infinite length, width, breadth and height of love in the gift of forgiveness.  If we are to forgive someone 49 times in one day for the same offence, which is truly a tall order,  then we can find the strength to forgive one, two, three or even seven offences from that person in a lifetime!

Let me close with this, forgiveness truly heals both sides.  Take the load and weight off and offer forgiveness this Christmas day.  Enjoy your day with family and friends.  It will be the best thing you did this year, and your best Christmas too.

About The Author

Zoe

Zoe met Eze (Chuck) in the 14th year of what turned out to be an 18 year ‘journey’ with mental illness. They got married less than a year of meeting with Zoe fully knowing Chuck had a diagnosis of mental illness. In the 18th year, Chuck defied the odds of mental illness. A consultant psychiatrist signed him off the mental health system with a bill of NO MENTAL ILLNESS. The consultant was so amazed by Chuck’s astonishing recovery that he even questioned how Chuck was diagnosed with mental illness all those years before, in the first place! Today Chuck is free from medication, its dependency and hospitalizations. Zoe’s award nominated book, DEFYING THE ODDS, chronicles the highs and ‘lows’ of this journey. Zoe, often writing from the standpoint of a caregiver, clearly understands that mental illness does not only affect an individual challenged with the disease, but also families, marriages and society as a whole.

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