On my run this morning, I listened to the fourth and final episode of “Road to Rickwood,” a podcast from NPR. It’s all about Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama – the oldest professional ballpark in America – and the history of segregation and racism in professional baseball. If you’re a baseball and/or history fan, I highly recommend that you listen to this four-episode podcast. Click through the link above to access it.

The host, comedian and Birmingham native Roy Wood, Jr., tells the story of Rickwood, all the way from its first game in August 1910 to an MLB game played there this past June. He interviews several Negro League players who played for or against the Birmingham Black Barons – a team that shared its home games at Rickwood with the all-white Birmingham Barons. It’s really fascinating to hear their stories of what their lives were like during the era of segregation and open prejudice in the United States.

In an interview with Ayesha Rascoe (the “Extra Innings” episode of the podcast), Roy Wood, Jr., answered Ayesha’s question about what he learned from his interviews with the Negro League players. Wood said something that made me stop in the middle of my run and jot down his words:

You cannot hold a grudge longer than the one who was aggrieved. – Roy Wood, Jr.

What did he learn from these men who had endured years of racism in the world of professional baseball? He learned that they were not angry. They found joy in their sport. They endured and overcame. They did not hold grudges against the people who treated them so badly.

In a word, they forgave.

These Negro League baseball players did not hold grudges against those who treated them poorly through racist and discriminatory actions. That reality affects how Wood approaches those past actions, too.

There is power in forgiveness. Sometimes we talk about how forgiveness benefits the culprit and the one who has been harmed. But Wood’s observation takes it one step further: forgiveness releases others from the burden of carrying grudges on our behalf! Have you ever thought about that?

When we forgive someone, we are allowing ourselves to move on – and we are allowing people who would support us to move on, as well. Forgiveness is not simply an internal, personal experience. It is an experience that affects our entire community, our circles of friendship, our connections and relationships.

You can’t hold a grudge longer than the one who was aggrieved.

You know me – I’m always going to turn the discussion toward Jesus to see if there are any similarities. Did Jesus ever practice forgiveness? Does he call us to forgive others? Are we released from holding grudges on behalf of our friends who have been harmed but have found ways to forgive those who have harmed them?

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” – Jesus in Luke 23:34

In the worst moment of his life, while he was actively being nailed to a cross as part of the crucifixion process, when he was experiencing tremendous pain and the anticipation of certain death, Jesus voiced this prayer of forgiveness. He forgave the Roman soldiers who were killing him. This action released Jesus’s followers from holding grudges against the Roman officials and Jewish authorities who had called for his crucifixion. After all, you can’t hold a grudge longer than the one who was aggrieved, and Jesus let go of that potential grudge immediately.

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” – Jesus in Luke 6:37

Jesus calls his followers to forgive those who oppose them, harm them, stand in opposition to them. Just two verses earlier, he calls us to “love your enemies” and “do good to them.”

When we forgive, when we love our enemies, when we stop holding grudges, we free ourselves – and those around us – from the pain we have experienced.

It’s a simple but amazing reality. And it points us to the importance of community life. Our lives are intertwined more than we realize, and our choices affect more than just ourselves.

The next time you ponder whether or not to forgive someone who has harmed you, take a moment to think about who else will benefit from your act of forgiveness. Who else will you release from the burden of carrying a grudge on your behalf? One act of forgiveness can bring about so much good in the world, often more good than we realize in the moment.