--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Forgiving is love's toughest work, and…" description: "\"Forgiving is love's toughest work, and love's biggest risk.\" — Lewis B. Smedes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/lewis-b-smedes-4850_biggest_forgiving-is-love-s-toughest-work-and-lo_2501787.png" --- # Forgiving is love's toughest work, and love's biggest risk. ![“Forgiving is love's toughest work, and love's biggest risk.” quote by Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/lewis-b-smedes-4850_biggest_forgiving-is-love-s-toughest-work-and-lo_2501787.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/lewis-b-smedes-4850_biggest_forgiving-is-love-s-toughest-work-and-lo_2501787.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f76/lewis-b-smedes-4850_biggest_forgiving-is-love-s-toughest-work-and-lo_2501787.png) > “Forgiving is love's toughest work, and love's biggest risk.” [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Forgiveness demands deep love and involves taking a significant emotional risk. **In simple terms:** Forgiving is hard but shows love. Key Takeaway Embrace forgiveness despite fear. Themes love forgiveness risk growth Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - marriage counseling - family conflict - personal healing - reconciliation processes Key Concepts emotional vulnerability ethical choice Questions to Reflect On - What does love mean to you? - Are you willing to risk pain for peace? A Different Perspective Forgiving may not be reciprocated, leading to continued hurt. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Forgiveness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiveness/) [Forgiving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiving/) [Forgiving love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forgiving-love/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [Forgiving is love's toughest work, and love's biggest risk. If you twist it into something it was never meant to be, it can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/forgiving-is-love-s-toughest-work-and-love-s-biggest-risk-if-you/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [Desperate love is always the toughest way to do it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/desperate-love-is-always-the-toughest-way-to-do-it/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [Your biggest risk will be the risk you don't take.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/your-biggest-risk-will-be-the-risk-you-don-t-take/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The biggest risk is not taking any risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/the-biggest-risk-is-not-taking-any-risk/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > [Our biggest risk is ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-waitt/our-biggest-risk-is-ourselves/) [Ted Waitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-waitt/) > [My mother and my grandmother are pioneers of Mexican cuisine in this country, so I grew up in the kitchen. My mom, Zarela Martinez,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-sanchez/my-mother-and-my-grandmother-are-pioneers-of-mexican-cuisine-in-this/) [Aaron Sanchez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-sanchez/) > [Prayer is the converse of the soul with God. Therein we manifest or express to Him our reverence, and love for His divine perfection,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-hodge/prayer-is-the-converse-of-the-soul-with-god-therein-we-manifest-or/) [Charles Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-hodge/) > [“Forgiveness is like fresh mountain rain. It erodes away the sorrow and cleanses the land. Forgiving those we love is easy when we don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-burch/forgiveness-is-like-fresh-mountain-rain-it-erodes-away-the-sorrow-and/) [Heather Burch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-burch/) > [Love is forgiving and Love is for giving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/love-is-forgiving-and-love-is-for-giving/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [“We wind up in cells of our own making when we're not generous, loving, compassionate, and forgiving. Without love, we build dungeons in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sheen/we-wind-up-in-cells-of-our-own-making-when-we-re-not-generous-loving/) [Martin Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sheen/) > [The weak can never forgive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-weak-can-never-forgive/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I don't know how I would have gotten through this life without someone to really love me and I love them, him, and them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-marie-saint/i-don-t-know-how-i-would-have-gotten-through-this-life-without/) [Eva Marie Saint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-marie-saint/) > [The darkness of racial injustice will be dispelled only by the light of forgiving love. For more that three centuries American Negroes have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-darkness-of-racial-injustice-will-be-dispelled-only-by-the-light/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“Sometimes we spend time asking who is responsible or who to blame, whether in a relationship, in a job or with the people we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-we-spend-time-asking-who-is-responsible-or-who-to-blame/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To me, I think justice is part of forgiving, if it is well done with love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immaculee-ilibagiza/to-me-i-think-justice-is-part-of-forgiving-if-it-is-well-done-with/) [Immaculee Ilibagiza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immaculee-ilibagiza/) ## More by Lewis B. Smedes > [Nothing is more private than a woman's body; it is her physical, emotional, and moral citadel. She cannot be free at all if she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/nothing-is-more-private-than-a-woman-s-body-it-is-her-physical/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [...Forgiving is not having to understand. Understanding may come later, in fragments, an insight here and a glimpse there, after forgiving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/forgiving-is-not-having-to-understand-understanding-may-come-later-in/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [The God who has the whole world in his hands has grace for the whole world in his heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/the-god-who-has-the-whole-world-in-his-hands-has-grace-for-the-whole/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [Nobody sees reality whole; we all need others to show us the parts of it that they see better than we do. Nobody sees…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/nobody-sees-reality-whole-we-all-need-others-to-show-us-the-parts-of/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [I have discovered that most people who tell me that they cannot forgive a person who wronged them are handicapped by a mistaken understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/i-have-discovered-that-most-people-who-tell-me-that-they-cannot/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [Spoken forgiveness, no matter how heartfelt, works best when we do not demand the response we want. I mean that when we tell people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/spoken-forgiveness-no-matter-how-heartfelt-works-best-when-we-do-not/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. 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Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [When I feel the joy of receiving a gift my heart nudges me to join creation's ballet, the airy dance of giving and receiving,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/when-i-feel-the-joy-of-receiving-a-gift-my-heart-nudges-me-to-join/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [Our sense of fairness tells us that people should pay for the wrong they do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/our-sense-of-fairness-tells-us-that-people-should-pay-for-the-wrong/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [Gratitude is the best feeling I would ever have, the ultimate joy of living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/gratitude-is-the-best-feeling-i-would-ever-have-the-ultimate-joy-of/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [My father was only thirty-one when he died of a heart attack, much too young for a father to die and leave his young…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/my-father-was-only-thirty-one-when-he-died-of-a-heart-attack-much-too/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [The only way to heal the pain which will not heal itself is to forgive the person who hurt you. Forgiveness heals the memory's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/the-only-way-to-heal-the-pain-which-will-not-heal-itself-is-to/) [Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/) > [If you cannot free people from their wrongs and see them as the needy people they are, you enslave yourself to your own painful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/if-you-cannot-free-people-from-their-wrongs-and-see-them-as-the-needy/) [Lewis B. 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