Inspiring Story of the Month Featuring Brandon Charles

October 8th, 2026
by Pure Encouragement

Forgiveness can be one of the hardest things God asks us to do, and Brandon Charles knows firsthand what it means to wrestle through it.

After 16 years in the corporate world, Brandon never imagined God would lead him into ministry. But through some of the most broken places in his own life, God began shaping his heart and teaching him what it truly means to forgive.

Several years ago, Brandon and his wife, Lindsey, found their nine-year marriage on the verge of divorce. Lindsey chose to fight for their marriage, and through marriage mediation, God got hold of Brandon’s heart and began a powerful work of restoration.

Experiencing Lindsey’s forgiveness changed the direction of their lives. Today, Brandon and Lindsey are raising their family in Arkansas, are certified in marriage mediation, and have a heart to help other couples experience the same hope and healing God brought to their own marriage.

But God wasn’t finished teaching Brandon about forgiveness.

Over the years, Brandon has experienced deep heartbreak in his relationship with his oldest son. Despite his efforts to repair their relationship, there came a point when Brandon realized he had to release his son and trust God with what he could not fix himself. He continues to love him, reach out, and hold onto hope that one day their relationship will be restored.

At the same time, Brandon experienced a painful breakdown in his relationship with his own father. The hurt became especially deep when circumstances involving his father became intertwined with the broken relationship with his son. Brandon found himself grieving two important relationships at once and wrestling with how to forgive while also recognizing that trust had been broken.

It was in the middle of this pain that Brandon began learning an important truth: forgiveness and reconciliation are not the same thing. Forgiveness doesn’t mean pretending the hurt didn’t happen, removing healthy boundaries, or immediately restoring trust. Reconciliation may require healing and change, but Brandon could still choose forgiveness.

The harder lesson has been discovering just how deep forgiveness goes.

Brandon thought he had forgiven his father until he was challenged with harder questions: Do I pray for him? Do I want God’s best for him? Do I truly desire for him to experience the same incredible relationship with Jesus that I have?

Brandon admits he is still a work in progress. But as he has begun surrendering the hurt to God, something has changed. The weight is getting lighter. He realized that even though he was good at compartmentalizing his pain, he was still carrying it.

His encouragement for anyone struggling with forgiveness is simple: we can’t always do it on our own. We need Jesus.

There are hurts our flesh simply does not want to forgive. Brandon is learning that those are the very places where we can cry out to our Heavenly Father and say, “I can’t do this without You.”

Brandon’s story is still being written, and that’s part of what makes it so inspiring.

Forgiveness doesn’t always happen neatly or instantly. Sometimes victory looks like waking up each day, surrendering the hurt again, and trusting Jesus to do in our hearts what we could never do on our own.

September 2026 Newsletter Article