Unlocking Our Prison: The Transformative Power of Forgiveness

There’s a weight we carry, a burden of hurt that settles in our hearts. Do you feel it? It’s the lingering pain from past wrongs, the “keepsakes” we can’t seem to discard.

Life throws us curveballs, those deeper “boo-boos” that no mother’s kiss can instantly heal. People, intended or not, wound us. A careless word, a thoughtless action–these can leave lasting scars. And let’s face it, hurt people hurt people, sometimes spraying their pain onto anyone nearby.

People do foolish things, say foolish things, and believe foolish things. Everyone has something growing up to do, no matter their age. With each passing day, we change. The person that hurt you a decade ago would not do the same now.

Can you let it go?

The Bible speaks of forgiveness as a word with an iron spine. It summons the courage to release the hurt. Imagine gripping a thorny rose stem—the only way to end the pain is to release your hold. We hold onto hurt because it feels like control, a way to justify our distance. But what if we turned that mirror inward?

Each has his catalog of sins and indiscretions. Who has not said or done the wrong thing, leaving raw feelings in the wake? Does God nurse his hurt toward us?

Instead, he forgives and lets it go. He mends the fence by himself, offering the sacrifice. If he had waited on us, Jesus would have never come.

God reminds us that being forgiven obligates the same.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32, NIV)

But how can you let go, especially if after years the wound still feels fresh?

Start with giving others an excuse. We can acknowledge that they, like us, have valid personal reasons for their actions. They were young. They did not know what they were doing. They had a bad day. Sickness was coming on. The picture looks different when you change the frame from intentional to inadvertent.

If you cannot forgive, then forbear. Keep connections, even if they seem unrepentant. Forbearance builds a bridge so forgiveness in another can cross without a barrier. The day may come when forbearance becomes forgiveness. If not, you have done all you can.

In your actions, you are expressing how you want others to treat you when you have wronged another.

We let hurts build a prison in which we live. We have the key with us and all it takes is to turn the key and you can be free.

In January 1998, 81-year-old Louis Zamperini ran a leg of the Olympic Torch Relay for the Winter Olympics scheduled to be held in Nagano, Japan.

Zamperini knew the place well.

In the Second World War, the Japanese shot down his B-24 in the Pacific where he and his mates floated for days.

They thought the rescue was imminent but it was the Japanese who picked them out of the water.

Instead of going to a POW camp, which fell under the Geneva Convention rules, Zamperini found himself in a work camp.

He endured harsh treatment. One guard was particularly brutal. His name was Mutsuhiro Watanabe who the prisoners called The Bird.

The Bird discovered that Zamperini had run in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He ordered him to run but first, he took his stick and broke both of Zamperini’s legs. He hobbled until the broken limbs could no longer support him.

The experience left Zamperini bitter after release. He started having nightmares and became an alcoholic. His wife almost left him but gave him one chance.

He found faith in Christ and his life changed, making him a compassionate person and faithful, loving husband.

Yet, Zamperini continued to have nightmares. He had unfinished business.

So, in 1998, while in Japan, he decided he wanted to see the Bird again and forgive him. Watanabe refused to see him.

Yet, Zamperini did not give up. He wrote a letter to the Bird that despite the brutal treatment, he had forgiven him.

The nightmares died with the letter.

And yours can too.