When someone asks me this, I often sense both hope and fear in their heart. Hope, because we long for peace. Fear, because forgiving can feel like reopening a wound. Yet this question itself is already a movement of grace. To ask about forgiveness is to admit that our souls desire freedom more than resentment.
When we forgive, the first thing that happens is a quiet release. The soul loosens its grip on the pain it has been carrying. Forgiveness does not deny the hurt; it hands the hurt to God. In the Gospel, Jesus tells us to forgive “seventy times seven,” not because wounds are small, but because mercy is stronger. As we choose forgiveness, the soul exhales. The burden that once pressed on our heart begins to lift, even if slowly, even if imperfectly.
Then something deeper unfolds: healing begins to replace hardness. Anger and bitterness tend to seal the soul, making it rigid and defensive. Forgiveness softens what has become stiff within us. The Church teaches that forgiveness restores communion—not always outwardly, but inwardly. The walls we built to survive start to come down, and grace finds room to work again.
Forgiveness also re-aligns the soul with Christ. On the Cross, Jesus forgave while still wounded, while still suffering. When we forgive, we step into that same posture of love. We become less defined by what was done to us and more by who we are in God. The soul, once shaped by injury, is reshaped by mercy.
Finally, forgiveness opens the door to inner peace and spiritual freedom. This does not mean the memory disappears or the pain vanishes overnight. But it means the wound no longer rules us. Forgiveness restores our capacity to love without chains. It allows the soul to breathe again, to trust again, and to hope again.
A Quiet Reflection
If you are struggling to forgive, begin simply: ask God for the desire to forgive. Even that small prayer moves the soul toward healing.
May Christ, who forgives us endlessly, gently teach our hearts the freedom of mercy.
— Fr. John Matthew, for Christian Way.
