1 Peter 3:9New Living Translation (NLT)

9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.

Ah yes, this is why the Charleston 9’s family were so quick to forgive.

As many saw it as a sign of weakness, I have had to refer back to this scripture. They were quick to forgive, not because the pain was gone but because they understood this verse. Any “sore” untreated gets infected. What may appear as a small scratch left to its own devices become a festering, pus filled, smelly ulcer. An ulcer buries itself deep within. To the naked untrained eye everything appears to be in working order.

We have to clean wounds quickly. We have to “doctor on them” before real trouble begins. Even when it hurts we have to begin to apply healing to the infected areas.

We have to restrain the urge to “get them back”

I have forgiven lots of folks and even myself but how quickly have I done so. The answer, in this context is shameful. Some forgiveness took years, some minutes, rarely immediately.

In order to be granted your next blessing you have to repay an eye for forgiveness and forgiveness for a blessing.