Forgiveness

[Guest david81]

We are asking for prayer for our 4 year old daughter Callie Strong. She had a bone marrow transplant and because of suppresed immune system got a virus and the (doctors) say as a result of a complication she has extensive brain damage. But our God says different. We are praying and believing she will be ok and she be the same loving little girl she always was and does not have brain damage. We have prayed to God with our faith and are believing it. Callie is from jackson ky. She has a twin brother and 11 month old sister and we all love her and need her. So please join us prayng for her and tell everyone you know. Thank You and God Bless

[JTC]

This is one of the most important things for all of us to know about.

I don't think we can always forget when we forgive. First of all, yes we're hard wired to remember things. But secondly of all, if we were to literally forget, that would open us up to letting us get hurt again, in the same way. So rather than saying we have to forget, I'll say we have to let go of it, so it isn't in our minds and feelings all the time.

Let me ask this. How do you go about forgiving? I do it by trying to understand the person's reasons for doing what I now have to forgive that person for. I believe in peace through understanding, so if I can understand why the person did what he did, I come closer to letting it go

So does anyone else want to share how you forgive?

[bornagain2011]

It is hard to forgive when it is someone you have to deal with almost everyday, they cuss you out on the phone-don't say sorry and do it again 2 days later, they send random hate texts while you are at work...but you have to stay in contact with them cause you have 2 kids together. That makes it hard to forgive every day. When you are finally starting to forgive over the last verbal assualt it happens again the next day or so. So I guess the best thing to do-which I do now- is just ignore and don't respond to rude comments or verbal abuse.

Other people I can seem to forgive much more easily and move on. I just forgive and hand it over to God.

[Willa]

I remember Corrie tenBoom's story about the prison guard who beat her sister came to her years later asking for forgiveness. He had been saved! The bitterness welled up in Corrie as she remembered. But she knew she had to forgive. As she extender her hand to him in obedience God gave her the feelings of lovingforgiveness.

I also remember that Paul warned the disciples about Alexander the coppersmith who had done him great harm. 2 Tim. 4:14-16. There are some people who are dangerous and evil. We need to pray for them. We never repay them with evil nor do we continue to have a relationship with them. We don't have to be stupid about it. We don't trust that person until they show the fruit of repentance. The Christians around Jeruselem were distrusting of Paul for many years because of his former persecution of them.

However, for our own sakes we should forgive quickly. Be angry but do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath. When that pain and wrath are kept within us it turns into bitterness and destroys us. Sometimes we have to deal with these memories over and over till we can leave it all in God's hands. Sometimes we can pray that God fill us with HIS forgiving love for that person and have real compassion on them who are so misled or corrupted by sin hatred and bigotry. Sometimes we ask God to extend His loving forgiveness through us when we can't love and forgive in our own power. God has promised us the power of His Spirit to do His will.

[FluffyJ]

Yeah..... technically we may not forget. But I believe that when we genuinely seek to forgive as Jesus would have us to forgive, that hurt that we have forgiven can be placed so far back in the deep recesses of our mind, that somehow, we can forget to remember. You see, we can only think one thought at a time, and to remember a past hurt is a thought, and we have free will to choose the thought that we want to dwell on. Managing our thought life comes with practice and the help of God, and with sufficient ongoing practice and leaning upon the Lord for the grace that we need, we can choose not to think of past hurts, we can forget to remember, and replace hurt with love, kindness and acceptance... and friendship.

Besides, as followers of Jesus Christ, we do not have the liberty to live with unforgiveness, not if we want to live a holy llife , and if we are reading the Word and praying and enjoying fellowship with Jesus as best we know, we will want to forget trespasses against us. Can two walk together except they be agreed? The Holy Spirit within us empowers us to live such a life of forgiveness. My views.... my experience.... through tough places where God has helped me to forgive and accept those I've forgiven. I have also received forgiveness, and have been re-accepted by some whom I have hurt. Thank God for His grace and mercy.