Forgiveness: (n) 1. The action or process of forgiving or being forgiven. 2. to stop feeling anger towards or about something.

Forgiveness is one of the hardest things to do. To forgive someone who has hurt you, offended you, or treated you poorly is something everyone has gone through at least once in their life. It is how you react to the situation that defines you. There are only two ways you can react, through hate or love. One path is easier to go down than the other.

More often than not, we choose to hate the other person. We choose to feel resentful and loathe that person for what they did. In the grand scheme of things, that hatred only tears you down. Many feel that is easier than accepting and using love to forgive and move on.

A close friend of mine once said, "to hate someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die." The more I looked into the words, the more I realized how true they were. Regardless of which way you choose, the situation will never change. The way you live your life from that moment on is what will change.

On Wednesday, June 17, Dylann Roof shot and killed nine members of the Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C. There were six women and three men. All with families, friends, and loved ones who would never see them again. At Roof's arraignment in court, some of the family members chose to speak to him.

The daughter of Ethel Lance said, "You hurt a lot of people, but I forgive you."

The husband of Myra Thompson said, "I forgive you, my family forgives you."

Felecia Sanders told Roof, "we welcomed you Wednesday night at our Bible study with open arms. You have killed some of the most beautifulest people I know. And it will never be the same. But we said in Bible study, we enjoyed you. May God have mercy on you."

To hear these strong and beautiful people forgive a man who took something so precious to them gives me hope. Ephesians 4:32 says, "We forgive because we have been forgiven by God." The families of the victims chose love even though it would have been so easy to chose hate. They chose to forgive and love, just as God has done to us.

The granddaughter of Daniel Simmons said, "Although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate, everyone's plea for your soul is proof that they lived and loved, and their legacies will live on. Hate won't win."

Love is stronger than hate. And as I saw thousands of people come together to form a "unity chain," we chose love, too. Because it didn't matter your background or race, what mattered was that we were united. We unite and follow the footsteps of the ones who showed us the way.