Thank you Butterflygirl for your insightful writing on Forgiveness. I too have had to dig deeply with the help of Jesus' teachings on Love to find forgiveness. Mine has to do with domestic abuse and divorce. I have suffered with feelings of betrayal, grief, abandonment, anxiety, fear, despair and guilt. Luckily I have had the assistance of a great Christian Therapist to help me reconnect with my faith and eventually be born again in Christ.

Yes, everything He teaches us is about forgiveness, love and Grace. I have truly wanted to forgive my now "X" and I couldn't sleep or rest until I had reached a place in my heart and soul to be able to do that. And, no, that does not mean that we allow ourselves to be abused in any way, spiritually or emotionally, by them ever again.

His anger and abusiveness began to manifest itself after 25 years together and before the anger took over his life, we had a relatively normal loving relationship. I don't know for sure what happened to him, but all of a sudden, I didn't even know who he was anymore. As a result of this confusion, I have had a horrible time trying to heal and to get on with my life. I still cry almost daily for him and have begged him to let go of the anger and to find forgiveness and reach out to Jesus for understanding. I can't erase the memories of all the joy and happiness we used to have and I keep beseeching Jesus to speak to his heart and bring him back to me. However, I have had to distance myself from him now because he has developed a relationship with another woman. There is nothing more I can say to him that will have any meaning as long as he is involved with someone else. He says it won't last because he has too much baggage and is in such financial failure that he has no business having a relationship with anyone until he gets his life straightened out. Yet, he continues to see her. So, I had to cut off any further communication with him. It breaks my heart to do it. However, I have to heal and I have to let God's will be my guide now. I have forgiven him truly in my heart and that is all I can do.

I also have a bipolar sister whom I have forgiven completely for all the pain she caused me and our family for over 20 years. We now have a loving and honest relationship I cherish.

Thanks again for sharing your insights.

GypsieRose