In this deeply personal and spiritually grounded solo episode of It’s Time, Jillian Melissa explores one of the most misunderstood—and most avoided—spiritual practices: forgiveness.

This episode is not about bypassing pain, forcing reconciliation, or pretending you’re “over it.” Instead, Jillian walks listeners through a raw, embodied inquiry into what forgiveness actually is, what it is not, and why unforgiveness quietly hardens the heart and keeps us tethered to the past.

Drawing from lived experience, Christian theology, somatic wisdom, and teachings from Brad Hambrick’s work on forgiveness, Jillian reframes forgiveness as an internal act of light, not a relational obligation.

If you’ve ever withheld forgiveness to protect yourself…
If you’ve confused forgiveness with trust, reconciliation, or forgetting…
If you’ve felt stuck between boundaries and bitterness…

This episode is an invitation to choose light without abandoning yourself.

✨ What This Episode Covers
Why forgiveness is not pretending you’re unhurt
Why forgiving someone does not mean letting them off the hook
The difference between forgiveness and excusing behavior
How withholding forgiveness calcifies the heart
Why forgiveness is an internal process, not a relational contract
Forgiveness as a commitment to what you do with pain when it resurfaces
The spiritual cost of bitterness and resentment
Why boundaries and forgiveness can coexist
Forgiveness as “turning on the light” inside the wound
The link between forgiveness, embodiment, and alignment with God
Why self-forgiveness is often the hardest place to begin

🔍 Core Teaching: Five Things Forgiveness Is Not
Forgiveness is not pretending you’re not hurt
Forgiveness does not require silencing yourself or denying pain.

Forgiveness is not letting someone off the hook
It does not erase accountability or minimize harm.

Forgiveness is not making excuses for someone
Understanding someone’s wounds does not justify their behavior.

Forgiveness is not forgetting
Memory and discernment remain intact.

Forgiveness is not trust or reconciliation
You can forgive without restoring access or relationship.

🌿 A Note on Embodiment
Throughout the episode, Jillian emphasizes the importance of listening to the body—especially within spiritual communities that mistakenly equate holiness with neglect of physical needs.

The body is not an obstacle to God.
The body is a source of intelligence, discernment, and truth.

🔗 Connect with Jillian Melissa
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/jillianmelissaintuition

🤍 Closing Invitation
If this episode stirred something in you—resistance, emotion, relief, or recognition—sit with it. Forgiveness is not rushed. It is practiced.

And if you’re not ready yet, that’s okay.
Awareness is the beginning.