Note: This post is part of a series about building a personal relationship with God by reading the parables of Jesus. You can browse the entire series here.
Forgiveness is powerful.
In high school and college, I remember feeling like I wanted to have close friends, but I couldn’t figure out how. Eventually, I began to study the Bible with a few students from school. From reading passages of the Bible and talking about life with these friends, it slowly became clear to me that I had been holding on to a lot of anger and bitterness from past hurts in my family. My decision not to forgive them had created a hard and unloving heart within me, and that’s why I was incapable of making any close friends.
Forgiving those who had hurt me wasn’t easy, but as I read the Bible I learned that God loved me so much that he would forgive me for everything I had ever done. His forgiveness and love became personal to me; my heart softened, and I became…
