What is forgiveness? By definition, it is an act of forgiving. What is forgiving, you say? Forgiving is accepting someone’s apology for something they did. In elementary school, we are taught to apologize to our peers and teachers for behaving in an unmannered fashion. That’s easy, but what happens when you grow up and enter the real world? Will it be that simple to say, “I’m sorry?” Maybe it will, but maybe it won’t.

Every day people encounter these obstacles. Sometimes it’s something as small as stealing an eraser from someone you know. Other times it’s something as big as hurting a person you love. If you are a human being that is kind and knows that the other individual is truly sorry, you’ll forgive him or her. Not all people are like that, though. I have a story of forgiveness that I would like to share with you about two girls that I know. Their names are Karen and Maggie.

Karen was in the eighth grade. She was a typical teenager with makeup, plucked eyebrows, and a never-ending love of clothes and boys. Of course, she had a boyfriend too. Now, to some adults, at the age of thirteen or fourteen, you are too young to have a boyfriend. We “don’t know the real meaning of being in love.” That may be true, but it doesn’t mean that we listen to them. Anyway, Karen was “with” this boy and she was happy. The only problem was that one of her best friends, Maggie, liked the same guy a lot.

Maggie became angry with Karen. She didn’t talk to her. She didn’t hang out with her. Eventually, she began spreading rumors about Karen. Karen was hurt, but Maggie, it seemed, didn’t care. She just kept on trying to seek revenge on Karen for something she didn’t intend on doing to hurt her good friend. This stopped when their class went on a retreat.

During this retreat, there was a session where you interact with every single living soul in your class. You were either to confess something to your partner, apologize for something you did, or forgive them. Ultimately, Karen and Maggie met up with each other. Karen apologized first to Maggie for everything she did. She explained that she shouldn’t have done what she did and that she should have considered Maggie’s feelings. Likewise, Maggie apologized to Karen for acting childish and for spreading those dishonest rumors. Karen confessed that she and her boyfriend weren’t even together anymore. She said that she shouldn’t have chosen a boy over one of her best friends. They forgave each other and, to this day, are still buddies.

My friend Michael says that “forgiveness doesn’t always come naturally; it takes time.”  That’s so true. The only one I know that can forgive you for anything is God. When you betray Him or faze yourself away from His love, He’ll forgive you once you realize that you were wrong. He’s the only one you can truly trust to love you no matter what.

Forgiveness is something we all need. It’s like a security blanket that helps us get through the day. For me, if I know someone is upset with me or my actions, I can’t stand it. I don’t want that person to hate me; I want them to know that I didn’t mean to hurt them. We shouldn’t wait until the last minute to forgive someone or apologize, because it might be too late. They may be gone once we discover that we were wrong.

Like I said, we all need forgiveness. We all need to know that there is someone out there that loves us no matter what we do. In everyone’s life, no matter who you are, forgiveness will come and go. We just have to be ready and willing to accept it.