There’s something strange and beautiful about the Christmas season.
The lights go up, the air gets colder, and somehow the world feels both softer and heavier at the same time. The holidays carry joy, but they also tug on old memories, old wounds, and old versions of ourselves that we’re not always ready to revisit.
And it’s in this season, more than any other, that forgiveness becomes both the hardest thing to offer and the most necessary gift we can give.
Forgiveness Is the Gift That Frees You First
People misunderstand forgiveness. They think it’s about excusing what someone did. It’s not. Forgiveness is about releasing the piece of your heart that got stuck the moment you were hurt.
Christmas reminds us that forgiveness isn’t earned… it’s extended.
It’s grace, the same grace God gives us daily.
When we forgive, we let ourselves breathe again. When we offer someone a second chance, we allow the possibility of redemption to return to the story. And in a season built entirely on the birth of hope, isn’t that the point?
Why Some People Struggle to Believe in Good Intentions
Not everyone meets kindness with gratitude. Some people respond to generosity with suspicion. Some look at every gift and see strings attached. Some look at every act of love and assume there’s a hidden motive.
It’s easy to get frustrated with people like that, especially when your heart is clean. But pessimism is usually a scar, not a personality trait. People expect the worst because, somewhere along the line, the worst is what they repeatedly received.
- They were promised love and given betrayal.
- They were promised support and given abandonment.
- They were promised stability and given chaos.
Pessimism is often just self-protection wearing the mask of certainty. When you understand that, you stop taking their reactions personally. Their disbelief doesn’t invalidate your integrity. Their distrust doesn’t stain your character. Their fear isn’t a reflection of your intentions; it’s a leftover echo of someone else’s actions.
Christmas Is the Invitation to Try Again
The entire Christmas story is built on God saying, “Humanity, I still believe in you.” It’s the ultimate second chance. And that spirit is what we’re meant to carry forward:
- Into our families
- Into our friendships
- Into our past hurts
- Into the people who don’t know how to receive love
- And even into the places inside ourselves we’d rather avoid
Christmas is the reminder that hope is always worth another try… that broken relationships can heal… that people can grow… and that the heart can reopen even after it’s been bruised.
Giving Grace Doesn’t Make You Weak, It Makes You Free
Forgiving doesn’t mean forgetting. Offering a second chance doesn’t mean being blind.
Extending kindness doesn’t mean ignoring wisdom. It simply means you refuse to let bitterness become your permanent holiday guest. And if someone else can’t believe in your intentions yet?
That’s okay. You stay steady. You stay kind. You stay genuine. Not because they deserve it, but because that’s who you are.
This Christmas, Give the Gift Only You Can Give
Give peace. Give grace. Give patience. Give someone the chance to start over, even if that person is yourself. Because the truth is, Christmas isn’t just about remembering the birth of Christ. It’s about remembering why He came: to rewrite stories, redeem the broken, and teach us that love has the power to start again.
Troy P Zehnder 