How far do we go on forgiveness?

[arunangelo]

Although we may think that we are righteous, in reality none of us are truly righteous (Roman 3:23), because, deep in our heart we harbor hate, anger, jealousy and pride. This becomes very evident when someone hurts us or our interests are interfered with. When we are hurt or insulted, we feel that we have lost something or that something has been taken away from us. We then feel that if we take revenge we can get even with out offender. We generally call revenge with various righteous sounding terms such as restitution, justice and punishment. We tend to overlook the fact that everything in this World is inconsequential, because, they are not permanent; and that our only true treasure, which never gets destroyed, is God

[irishcowboy]

alot of the time when my feelings are hurt, i find it is of my own doings....

as far as forgiveness..... let me say it this way......

as a person self employed...... I run into times when people ( customers ) say they will pay and dont, for what ever reason.... i can take it to small claims court, but then I am still the one that has the burden of trying to collect even with a judgement, so then i am out more money for the filing and the court time that I am not working and then the time trying to collect, and then if they do not pay ( which is the case the majority of the time ) i have to either give up or take it back to court where they may get the first warning which proceeds a contempt charge, and then i am still given the burden to collect again, and out more fees and monies....

so which is easier and more cost effective to do?

mostly ( depending on the amount ) will either drop the customer or continue sending monthly statements, and hope some day they may get tired of seeing them and pay it or at least enough to cover the material and postage for statements. those that it is not cost effective, I write off, forgive their debt.

there is one instance where a debt was forgiven, and the lady called for more work to be done, i told her that i can not do any more work for her. since then she has bad mouthed the company..... heres the deal, her debt is forgiven, but she has not accepted it and i will not allow her to build another debt with me other then what she is doign with her mouth. yea, i could go for charges against her, but again that would be more money that would not amount to much....

as with us,

God provided a way for our debts (All of us have had our debts canceled) to be paid, and that is thru Jesus Christ.

our debts have been paid, in full, cancelled our part of it. now if we choose not to accept this debt cancelation, we do not have to. it is very sinple process, all we have to do is to accept it, and it is done..... most people feel thatthey are unworthy of this, and continue to try and make themselves worthy before they accept the gift of debt cancelation and by doing this they will never reach a point where they will feel they are worthy..... thus remaining in bondage to the law.

forgiveness, hard to explain how a person can be forgiven but yet not trusted, another way to say it,

a dog bites me once, shame on him..... forgiven, this does not mean i need to stick my hand out infront of his face again, just to be bitten again, that is stupid, and every one will agree that if you have been bit by a dog once, and you stick your hand in front of his face again only to be bitten again, that this person is lacking something upstairs.......

the same thing with debts from human to human..... i can forgive debts or tresspasses or sins against me, but that does not mean i have to allow myself to be bitten again....

how far do i forgive? as many times and as far as I can .....

mike

does that mean that we all

[Guest Fluffy the Cactus]

Forgive, don't forget.

???

[Trinity]

How far will i forgive? Well, How far will God forgive?

[Leonard]

Forgive as far as there is repentence. The Episcopal Church just chose to forgive--period. No repentence required to be in their good graces. They thought this was 'showing Christ's love,' but now we see how the devil has taken advantage of this, and the Episcopal Church has all but destroyed itself. Just go on the web and look for Virtue on Line.

[OneAccord]

This was a very beautiful post on forgiveness, arunangelo, thank yo for taking the itme to type it.

I agree that forgiveness is all or nothing, just like Jesus demonstrated on the Cross. To forgive is to set someone free, may we continue to break the chains that hold each other in bondage. Forgiveness is the ultimate act of love.

[our3blessings]

Awesome post. I find that forgiveness sets the guilty party free, but more importantly and pleasantly, it also sets me free from the anger and hurt that has been caused. I am usually a very forgiving person, but if someone is continually hurting me with no repentence at all, I can't forgive so well. Or if someone refuses to admit to any wrongdoing, it's difficult in that circumstance for me to forgive.

[hmh]

The duty to forgive is paramount in our stand with God. We are to forgive those who have done wrong to us. But that does not mean we can trust them. Trust is something all together different. We forgive someone who does us wrong, and when we see them again, we keep our guard up, because trust is earned.

[Aida]

True forgiveness is forgiving AND forgetting. When God forgives us, he forgives us. I belive true forgiveness for us humans is to put whatever that has been forgiven behind us. Forgiving is accepting an apology and moving on..not holding it over someones head forever. I too sometimes hold feelings of resentment when someone does me wrong...I sometimes catch myself harboring bad feelings towards someone, even after we have moved past whatever little event took place. I have to remind myself that love is the key to forgiveness. It can be difficult at times, I admit. Plus, I have done wrong to too many peole to name. I would want them to put my wrong doings behind them as well. "For we have all fallen short of the glory of God..."

The duty to forgive is paramount in our stand with God.  We are to forgive those who have done wrong to us.  But that does not mean we can trust them.  Trust is something all together different.  We forgive someone who does us wrong, and when we see them again, we keep our guard up, because trust is earned.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Ovedya]

"Love...covers all things...eduures all things..." (1 Cor. 13)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He paid a debt He did not owe.

I owed a debt I could not pay.

I needed someone to wash my sins away.

And now I sing a brand-new song, amazing Grace all day long.

Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.

He paid a debt on Calvary.

He cleased my soul and made me free.

I'm glad that Jesus did all my sins erase.

And now I sing a brand-new song, amazing Grace all day long.

Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our offenses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) And raised us up together with Him and seated us together with Him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, That he might display in the ages to come the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-7)

"Bearing one another and forgiving one another, if anyone should have a complaint against anyone; even as the Lord forgave you, so also should you forgive." (Col. 3:13)