Many people have asked me, “Father, how can forgiveness set me free when the pain still feels so real?” It’s a question that touches one of the deepest struggles of the human heart. We often think of forgiveness as something we give to others, but in truth, it’s also something that frees us — from bitterness, resentment, and even shame.
When Jesus spoke of forgiveness, He wasn’t giving us a moral rule; He was showing us the path to freedom. In the Gospels, He tells us, “Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37). Those words reveal a beautiful mystery: when we release others from the debt they owe us, we open our own hearts to God’s mercy. We stop letting the past hold us captive and begin to live again in the light of His love.
The Church teaches that forgiveness is not forgetting what happened or pretending that pain doesn’t matter. Rather, it’s choosing to let God be the judge and healer. In that act, we allow His grace to loosen the chains that anger and guilt have wrapped around our souls. It may be a long journey — sometimes we forgive many times before peace comes — but each step is a step toward freedom.
When you forgive, you’re not saying what was done is okay; you’re saying it will not define your heart anymore. That’s the freedom Christ won for us on the Cross. His mercy transforms our wounds into places where His love can dwell.
True freedom begins when we let go and let God heal what we cannot. May His mercy teach us to forgive as He forgives, and to walk in the peace that only love can bring.
— Fr. John Matthew, for Christian Way
