Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander be put away from you… be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you. -Ephesians 4, WEB
Sometimes we find it hard to forgive because we feel that it isn’t fair for us to just let go of our grudge against someone. We feel that the people who offended or hurt us deserve our hatred, not our love. But O, how great a sacrifice on our part! How we suffer from lack of peace. And how our hearts are burdened by the pain of their transgressions.
Letting go of our grudge is not a sign of weakness but of strength. It is not being unkind to ourselves, but of truly loving ourselves.
It is never an easy task to let go of negative emotions. But we should do our very best and ask also for God’s help so that we may be able to let go of them.
Only when we’re able to free our hearts from the darkness would we be able to feel the light. And this light is the peace and happiness we have long been searching for.
When we are tempted to break God’s law, we must love ourselves too much to risk committing a… sin. – St. Bernadette
The thing about hope is that it’s a positive force that shines the most when it’s dark. When everything’s going well, we hardly notice it’s there. But when things go against us, when our dreams fade and when we see no immediate reprieve from our troubles, that’s when hope does its best work for us.
"Where Hope Can Be Found"