We can see the differences between forgiving and reunion clearly if we look at them both from several sides.
It takes one person to forgive.
It takes two to be reunited.
Forgiving happens inside the wounded person.
Reunion happens in a relationship between people.
We can forgive a person who never says he is sorry.
We cannot be truly reunited unless he is honestly sorry.
We can forgive even if we do not trust the person who wronged us once not to wrong us again.
Reunion can happen only if we can trust the person who wronged us once not to wrong again.
Forgiving has not strings attached.
Reunion has several strings attached.
Let us be clear that forgiving and reunion are not the same things; a person can truly forgive and refuse to be reunited.
~Louis Smedes The Art of Forgiving
No comments:
Post a Comment