The Art of Letting Go: A Tale about Forgiveness

Kazuya's phone pings - a notification follows.

Suddenly, he barges into the living room showing a photo

of his wife Lavonne with another man.

"What is the meaning of this photo, Lavonne?

Approaching and grabbing her hand roughly he demands an answer to quell his anger.

Approaching and grabbing her hand roughly he demands an answer to quell his anger.

"Who is this?"

His wife responds: "You're getting worked up over nothing, Kazuya. This is not what you think it is!"

His grip tightens around her wrist, "Answer the question!"

Continuing, "He's an old classmate from secondary school in forever. It's nothing but a coincidence that we met each other again as we were both buying our coffees and lunches

at the same cafe on third street....Satisfied?!...Now, let go!"

she responded demanding that he adhere to her wishes however he does not and his anger only intensifies. He elevates his hand.

"What? Are you going to start beating me now?!" Finally, as he regains his senses, he utters, "Forgive me!" She sighs a breath of relief.

"What? Are you going to start beating me now?!" Finally, as he regains his senses, he utters, "Forgive me!"

She sighs a breath of relief.

"I was just about to do something unthinkable to you - something that never should have crossed my mind or manifest...forgive me."

Lavonne mustering all her strength says, "I forgive you, Kazuya...but I also can't do this anymore. You need to change!

There's barely any trust between us and I fear that sooner or later our marriage will crumble because of it. I don't want that!

I still love you!"

Tears shed from her eyes as she struggles to stop herself from bawling, "Something's missing in this relationship and I don't think I can spot it if I stay here...with you...right now. So, I'm leaving to go stay at my mother's house in the country."

Later that night, as Lavonne lay in her bed, she picked up on the

subtle clues that her mom was dropping as she told her stories about her and her dad's rocky relationship. Their relationship had been on the brink of collapse many times but stayed intact due to their reliance on prayers, Bible verses, and when they learned what marriage is actually about: maturity of both partners, trust and amicable communication based on truth which removes doubt and suspicion, respect among others.

This was a great comfort to her but her mother in her wisdom wasn't done there so she asked,

"You said you forgave him when you two had that fight, didn't you?...At that time, Did you forgive him with your heart or just your mouth?"

Lavonne bit her lips into a purse position. It was a glaringly obvious signal to her mother that she was embarrassed to say that she meant the latter.

With that in mind, her mother answered, "Yes, well...for those times when the forgiveness doesn't come that easily, it helps to remember to forgive 70 x 7 daily says the Lord....Darling, sometimes it's hard but once you give it to Him it's not impossible to forgive others!

She smiles gently, "You two will definitely make it. Just put Jesus at the center of your marriage. It'll be okay."