“Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and then hoping the other person dies.”
These words may sound like a clever mantra until you know who said these amazing words.
Yolande Korkie’s husband, Pierre was killed by Al-Qaeda in Yemen in 2014.
Through the pain Yolanda chose to forgive. That choice was not easy but the results were profound. Pierre now has a legacy not filled with bitterness but love.
2000 years earlier Jesus hung on a cross, his body riddled with pain and he uttered these now famous words, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”.
As a Christian my greatest challenge is not to preach only but to live the principles of Christ.
Our personal suffering cannot be compared to Yolanda’s or Christ’s, but each one of us have suffered pain.
Today you have a choice to forgive, not a statement or a mantra, but a heart choice to forgive, to let go, to release and to move on.
In Matt 6:14 Jesus emphasises the importance and power of forgiveness when he linked our giving and receiving the gift of forgiveness.
“If you forgive people that have sinned against you, God will forgive you also.” A legacy is not built on bitterness but the peace that true forgiveness brings.
PS. Forgiveness is not an act but an attitude. Amen.
