Justified

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” ~Mahatma Gandhi

As usual, I was doing some reasearch and came across this quote.  It struck a chord within me on several levels.  I think it is amazing how we are taught to protect ourselves, from skinned knees to fighting.  Yet in still, we are never really taught how to be vulnerable.  Consequently, when one has wronged us, we have trouble forgiving them, as we feel as though we are owed some debt that they must in turn pay.  This is the way of the world, or so I thought. 

I'm finding that even in the world of Christianity, we still have trouble with this concept, yet we are so quick to quote that Christ died for our sins.  If he truly died for our sins, how much more are we able to forgive others for their shortcomings? Looking at Ghandi's quote, it really does take a strong individual to forgive another, to walk away and say, "You owe me nothing."  We think that this makes a person appear weak.  After all, what kind of person walks away from a conflict with nothing?  What kind of person would do such a thing? 

I like to think that it does indeed make us stronger.  It takes a stronger person to be the bigger person and forgive.  It takes a stronger person to take the high road, so to speak.  It takes a stronger person to wipe the slate clean, as if the transgression had never been committed.  It takes a stronger person, who, even though they by all rights and standards, may be owed something, who may be justified, to say that the relationship means more than  my ego, and toss the offense aside into the sea of forgetfulness.  I believe even more now, that Ghandi was on to something of which we have no true concept of, and that is the mere fact that forgiveness truly is an attribute of the strong....by the Grace of God....Selah...