Does forgiveness equal reconciliation?

My answer is no… However, I think most people would say yes.

In my humble opinion, to forgive someone merely means you are willing to move on from a hurt that an individual has caused you. It means that you won’t allow an individual’s actions to stifle or hold you back from being true to yourself and the purpose God as planned for your life. You’ve prayed about it and turned it over to God.

Reconciliation, on the other hand, means you are willing to work at re-establishing the relationship you had with an individual before any offenses. It means you are wanting and willing to take the necessary steps to go back to the way things were.

An integral step, that’s commonly overlooked, is repentance. Repentance means to turn away from a certain behavior or action that’s not of God or something that hurts our brethren.

Don’t get me wrong. You can choose to forgive and reconcile over and over with the same person without repentance. It’s up to you. I just think that we should be careful not to judge an individual and say that they have not truly forgiven someone because they choose not to reconcile a relationship.

Forgiving,
~Sonja