“Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.” Jean-Paul Sartre

We all have had challenges in our lives. Health problems, the loss of a loved one or a job or financial security, tragedies of all kinds. These things are all part of life and usually something that’s just…happens. Things look and feel a lot different when something has been done TO you, especially when it comes from a person you trusted. Those kinds of betrayal are especially hard to get over.

When faced with a betrayal, the wounds go deep. Those cuts leave jagged scars that don’t heal easily. I’ve been betrayed before and in some ways, it was harder to get through than losing Mr. Virgo. Or, maybe I got through that tragic loss because I gained coping skills from the betrayal.

For a very long time, I carried that pain with me. I shared it with others which only perpetuated the open wound and didn’t offer the healing I hoped it would. It only served to spread the poison around to innocent people and kept me in a dark place. As they say, anger is the poison you take hoping it affects the other guy.

So, how to we achieve freedom from our pain? It wasn’t till I forgave the perpetrator that I found relief. It isn’t easy. I wanted to hang onto my righteous anger. Then, I finally gave up on it. I wasn’t hurting anyone else but myself. And the best thing I could do for myself and those I love was to give it to God. After all, HE is the ultimate judge…not me. Once I handed it off to God, my heart immediately lightened. As time went by, I even found my compassion for the person who betrayed me. And, this is going to be hard to believe…we became friends again. Not like before, to be sure…but friends, nonetheless. There was a heartfelt apology and contrition which went a long way helping me get over it. I’m well aware…not everyone is afforded the luxury of closure.

I took that same lesson and have applied it over and over in my life. It seems like the older I get, the less it matters to me what others do toward me. I practice the “let them” school of thought.

If they want to leave…let them.
If they want to talk about me…let them.
If they want to say ugly things about me to others…let them.

It’s not my job to police everyone. My job is to love people. It seems the pendulum on “kindness matters” has swung to the deep end, but I’m here to tell you…it will not last forever.

Light always overcomes darkness.

Good always overcomes evil.

It won’t happen over night. It may get worse before it gets better, but somehow…someday that pendulum will started its inevitable turn back toward the center and people will learn to care again. We just don’t know when. Science tells us nature seeks balance. Faith tells us we’re going to a better place but we need to be light bearers while we’re here.

If God brings us to it, He can bring us through it.

Let go and let God do what God does.

❄️🩵❄️

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭32‬ ‭ESV

forgiveness #god #betrayal #love #kindness #let #go #letgo