Poisoning Yourself: The Danger of Bitterness to the Soul

Poisoning Yourself: The Danger of Bitterness to the Soul

There is a particular cruelty to bitterness that is easy to miss in the early stages. When we are first wronged—when the hurt is fresh and the sense of injustice is acute—holding onto the grievance can feel almost righteous. It can feel like a refusal to minimise what...
When God Forgets: Forgiving and Forgetting Rightly Understood

When God Forgets: Forgiving and Forgetting Rightly Understood

Few phrases in the Christian vocabulary are more frequently used and more poorly understood than “forgive and forget.” It appears with great regularity in conversations about reconciliation, and carries an implicit expectation: that genuine forgiveness produces a kind...
Watched by the World: Forgiveness as Gospel Witness

Watched by the World: Forgiveness as Gospel Witness

When Paul wrote to Philemon, he did something easy to overlook. He did not address the letter to Philemon alone. He addressed it to Philemon, Apphia, Archippus, and—pointedly—to the church that met in Philemon’s home. This was not a private note slipped discreetly...
Two Different Things: Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Two Different Things: Forgiveness and Reconciliation

One of the most important clarifications a Christian can make when navigating the aftermath of being wronged is the conviction that forgiveness and reconciliation, while deeply related, are not the same thing. Conflating them causes real harm. It leads some people to...