Forgiveness Doesn’t Make It OK

Scripture: Psalm 103:8 (CEB) — “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, very patient, and full of faithful love.”

Reflection
For many, the barrier isn’t guilt—it’s pain. If you have been harmed, forgiveness can sound like someone asking you to pretend it didn’t matter. “Just forgive” can feel like spiritual pressure to silence your own story. And if that’s what forgiveness means, of course your heart resists receiving it.

Psalm 103 doesn’t describe a shallow God. It describes a compassionate God—one who sees, knows, and responds with steadfast love. Compassion is not minimizing. Compassion is taking suffering seriously. Forgiveness is not calling evil good; it is refusing to let evil have the final word.

God’s forgiveness is never an endorsement of harm. It’s a declaration that harm doesn’t get to rule forever. For survivors, receiving God’s forgiveness may begin not with “I’m sorry,” but with “I’m wounded.” The first grace is the truth that God is compassionate toward your pain.

Sometimes the doorway to receiving forgiveness is realizing that God’s mercy includes you as the one who suffered—not just as someone who sinned. God’s love is wide enough to hold both your need for healing and your need for grace.

Application
If “forgiveness” feels like minimizing, replace the word with “freedom” as you pray today. Ask: “God, what would freedom look like for me?”

Prayer
Compassionate God, meet me in my pain and teach me a forgiveness that tells the truth.

Song“Heal” — Tom Odell