Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all wrongs. -Proverbs 10:12, WEBBE
It is impossible to forgive without love. We can grant pardon from punishment towards those who offended us. We can say that we have decided not to seek vengeance anymore. We can even say that we desire the good of those who hurt us. But without love, we cannot achieve true forgiveness, for forgiveness requires love.
Yet how can we love without knowing what love is? How can we give that which we have not received? That which we have not felt?
When we find it impossible to forgive, let us seek the God of Compassion. Let us seek Him who loves us and never gives up on us no matter how many times we have fallen and lost our way.
Let His words of mercy resound always in our ears. Let His tender touch melt the hardness of our hearts. Let His gaze of kindness break through our own guilt and our many burdens. And let these words be a balm that the heals the wounds of your soul: “You are loved. You are forgiven. You were lost, but now you are found.”
We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
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"