There’s one more type of “difficult person” we are called to love. The disappointing person. The person who regularly fails us again and again. The person who lets us down over and over. The person who continues to wrong us repeatedly.

How do we love disappointing people? We forgive them.

Love keeps no record of wrongs.

This means we don’t rehearse their wrongs over and over. Not to ourselves. Not to other people. Not to the offender.

If you’re continuing to rehearse how the offender hurt you over and over and over to yourself, you haven’t forgiven them. If you’re continuing to rehearse how the offender hurt you over and over to other people, you haven’t forgiven them. If you’re continuing to rehearse how the offender hurt you over and over again to the offender, you haven’t forgiven them.

Love forgives. Love forgives disappointing people. We cease rehearsing their record of wrongs. We release them from having to pay for what they’ve done. We forgive.

But here’s what forgiveness doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean we must forget. It doesn’t mean we must resume the relationship. I’ll post two more blogs on these issues.

But for now let’s remember: love forgives. How do we love disappointing people? We forgive them. Love forgives.