Life & Wisdom Quote by Lewis B. Smedes

Forgiveness, here, isn’t framed as a moral gold star; it’s a measurable shift in power. Lewis B. Smedes stakes the beginning of forgiveness on a surprisingly concrete test: memory without venom. The hurt isn’t erased or rewritten. You still recall the names, the scenes, the damage. What changes is your internal posture toward the person who caused it. That’s why the line lands: it refuses the sentimental fantasy that “moving on” means forgetting, and it refuses the punitive fantasy that healing requires permanent hostility.

Smedes’ key move is the phrase “feel the power.” Forgiveness becomes less about letting someone off the hook and more about reclaiming your own agency from the injury. Resentment can function like a long-term lease agreement: it keeps the offender living in your head, collecting rent. Wishing them well doesn’t mean denying harm or restoring trust; it means the wound stops dictating your emotional weather. The subtext is almost clinical: if you can generate goodwill, even reluctantly, you’ve loosened the grip of the past.

Context matters: Smedes wrote out of a Christian ethical tradition, where forgiveness is often preached as duty. He subtly reframes it as liberation, which makes it palatable to modern readers wary of pious coercion. “Has begun” is also doing work: forgiveness isn’t a switch flipped once; it’s a process with early indicators. The quote grants permission for imperfection while setting a hard standard for what real change feels like.