Story behind "Strong"

I wrote the song "Strong" for my old band, but it fits so well with my current style and "compassion mission" that I still like to play it acoustically.I've learned so much over the years about forgiving others as God forgives me.  This has come up again and again in my life, probably because I have high expectations for how people should treat each other! ;)When I wrote this song, I was going through a struggle of forgiving family members.  That was hard work, but necessary.  I wanted them in my life, but the pain I felt in response to their actions was so real.  It was a process I needed to go through, learning to love them despite the pain.  The pain would eventually heal with time and rebuilding of trust.  If I didn't forgive, it would only hurt me.Although forgiveness is hard (and usually not deserved), it is for our good that we choose to forgive those that hurt us.  I can tell you from experience that there is so much freedom gained when we forgive others, rather than living in bitterness or continuing the cycle of revenge.It is often the ones closest to us that we need to forgive the most, but this is how grace-filled relationships are lived out well.  Grace can be defined as undeserved favor.  Because of Christ, God has favored me way more than I deserve.  When I choose to extend undeserved favor to those around me, relationships are restored, and we get to live in much greater freedom than before.Let's face it, nobody is perfect (including us), and people will always disappoint us.  How we respond is what matters!Ps: If you'd like to dive into this more, I recommend the book What's So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey. There's study guide for small groups as well. There's also sweet visual edition of it too, if you're not big into reading thick books.