380) What is forgiveness? Lewis Smede said, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free & discover that the prisoner was you.” In the eyes of the law, a prisoner is set free because the sentence has been paid. Forgiveness of others & ourselves is a choice, the debt has been paid by Jesus. To hold yourself and others captive is to lack in the knowledge that God does not try people again for their actions. Once a prisoner has been pardoned, there is no record of wrong in God’s eyes. May we see ourselves and others with these same eyes. James 5:16