Last week we spoke about the season of Lent that we are in as a “not quite yet” time in preparation for the new life we celebrate at its culmination in Easter. A part of this “not quite yet” time and turning towards God and loving him and our neighbor, involves forgiveness.

This is a difficult and often fraught with emotion subject. Forgiveness is not something that is easy for us to do, no matter how much faith we may have.

The reason for that is that we are human, and none of us is perfect. But it is that very notion that none of us is perfect that makes forgiveness a gift from God.

We have all had the experience of someone harming or hurting us in some way, some much more severely than others. Part of our ability to forgive rests on the severity of the harm done and the closeness of the relationship we have with the person or persons who have done us that harm.

It seems like it may be easier to forgive someone we barely know than those that are closest to us, or at least that can often be the case.

Yet, why would we even want to forgive? God tells us to forgive, yes, for the benefit of the person who has done harm to us, but more importantly for ourselves.

If we cannot forgive, we become bottled up inside, and we are unable to move forward to become who God created us to be. We can become bitter, pushing away those who love us, and we can become more isolated and alone if we cannot forgive. Forgiveness allows us to move forward into God’s love.

Forgiveness is not easy! It is cyclical. We may think that we have completely forgiven someone by the grace of God when something or someone brings back all of those very difficult emotions. The point is to continue to forgive so we can move forward.

Another aspect of forgiveness is learning to forgive ourselves. We ask God for forgiveness, and rightly so, but if we cannot forgive ourselves, we are still stuck and cannot move forward with our lives. We do have to recognize when we have hurt others and make amends if we can, but part of forgiveness is self-forgiveness.

If we can forgive others and ourselves and ask God for forgiveness, we can use this “not quite yet” time of Lent to really grow into God’s love. We can use this “not quite yet” time of Lent to grow in love of our neighbor. We can use this “not quite yet” time of Lent to prepare for a truly joyful celebration of Easter.