“‘Forgive me,’ we say flippantly—putting on a smile—when we discover we are misaligned with someone greater or more powerful. We view our error lightly, and hope the one offended will quickly do the same. But true forgiveness is a thoughtful, time-intensive mercy. Unless we face the injury we caused, we ask for restoration without repentance—a mere smoothing of ruffled surfaces. And when it is our turn to forgive, we plant the seeds of future grudges if we pretend a painful hurt is minor and dismissible. Only those forgiven by Jesus ever truly forgive another broken soul. Only in the field of grace can reconciliation blossom. So stay in grace.”