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Jesus says, “Forgive one another.”  Colossians 3:13

Recently I read the novel, The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman.

In the story, the “light” was not only the light of the lighthouse which saved lives, but also the “light” represented the choice we have to forgive.

The wife of a man who was abused and mistreated by the townspeople said to him:

“But how?  How can you just get over these things, darling?  You’ve had so much strife, but you’re always happy.  How do you do it?”

“I choose to,” he said.  “I can leave myself to rot in the past, spend my time hating people for what happened, or I can forgive.”

“But it’s not that easy,” she answered.

He smiled that frank smile and said, “Oh, but my treasure, it is so much less exhausting.  You only have to forgive once.  To resent, you have to do it all day, every day.  You have to keep remembering all the bad things.”  He laughed, pretending to wipe sweat from his brow.  “I would have to make a list, a very, very long list and make sure I hated the people on it the right amount.  That I did a very proper job of hating, too:  very Teutonic! No.”  His voice became sober, “we always have a choice.  All of us.”

And later in the story at a critical time the wife remembers his words, “We always have a choice to forgive.”