Forgiving and forgetting isn’t as easy as it sounds

Cheryl Love stands by her husband despite his past. Photo courtesy of betches.com

On Feb. 8 a story on Instagram photo blog page “HumansofNY” gained a lot of attention. The story focuses on a married couple and specifically the troubled past of the husband “Bobby Love” whose real name turns out to be “Walter Miller.”

Miller had a colorful past that involved stealing, robbing banks and a whole lot of jail time which he always ended up escaping from. During his time on the run he managed to change his whole identity and marry a woman named Cheryl who he now has a family of 6 with. During their forty years of marriage Cheryl never knew her husband’s real past let alone his real birth name.

After everything was said and done Cheryl ended up standing by her man and forgiving her husband of his past despite him withholding the truth from her all these years.

Cheryl’s decision to forgive her husband was probably one of the hardest, most stressful decisions she’s had to make. I just know she was upset when she found out, we all would’ve been.

Yet I can’t help but admire her strength and her character throughout this whole ordeal. She showed the true definition of a real wife. She stood by her man and forgave him despite the humiliation she received from others. She stayed true to her vows “for better or for worse” and never left his side. She even testified on his behalf in court which in turn got him out a year early.

No one probably understood her decision to forgive at the time, since he withheld the truth for so many years, yet her unconditional love and faith outweighed everything that was being said about her husband and she fought for her marriage and won.

I’m sure we’re all aware of how no relationship or person is perfect, so we should always leave leeway for people to change and not hold their wrongs from the past against them. After all, “Love is patient and kind. And it doesn’t demand its own way, nor does it keep a record of being wronged.” Therefore, we shouldn’t be so quick to judge. We all have a past we aren’t proud of, yet the Lord forgives us every day.