Required to forgive?

Sometimes forgivness can be hard but god forgave us and the best thing we can do is return that love and forgive others when they do Wrong Against us. Sometimes thats tougth and we get satan constantly aggravating us and stiring up bad feeling. But god loved us enougth to forgive all the bad we have done so its one of the smallest things we can do.

Originally posted by AnnMercy2
I find that one very hard. I believe forgiving yourself is harder too do than to forgive someone else. I think it's hard for me to do because I tend to be harder on myself than anybody else. I expect more from myself, I ought to know better than sin, but I do it anyway and that is why I would be harder on my self than on anybody else. ... But what I fail to remember and other too, is that I'm human like everyone else and as a human I will fail, can't be perfect. I don't know why that is so hard to remember. ... I know the Lord will forgive me, now if I could just forgive myself as fast as the Lord forgives me I would have it made

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That's exactly it! When we ask God for forgiveness He immediately forgets our sins...but I can't forget and so I keep beating myself over the head with what I've done wondering how on earth I could have been such a moron to fall away like that. If only I could forget what I've done it would be all good...

Okay folks,

Grab yer socks.
I have a wholly, complete, and different idea when it comes to 'forgiveness'.

I welcome your comments.

My very favorite thing to do is to say 'Thank You, Holy Father'.
So, one day, I got in my truck to go to work. As usual, before I even turn the key, I sat and said my litany of thanks to the Holy Father.
I said, among my many thanks, stuff like:
Thank you for this coffee I'm bringing with me.
Thank you for my job.
Thank you for the rain.
Thank you for giving me my health.
Thank you for giving me my family.
Thank you for giving....

Then, I stopped, stunned.
I heard what I was saying.
And, the light turned on in my head.

I then realized, BOOM, like that, what 'forgiveness' meant to me.

Jesus had said to someone, "Go in peace. Your sins have been forgiven."
Jesus also said something to the effect that our sins are forgiven even as we commit them, or something like that.

Well, I finally realized that, YEP, Jesus was right.
And, I realized how.

The word, FORGIVE, is a compound word. It consists of the words, FOR and GIVE.
Well, I then realized that God is FOR-GIVING of our sins.
What does that mean?
It would make more sense, it seems, if you take the word FOR and expand it to FORTH.
The result is: God is FORTH-GIVING of our sins.

How can I support what I've just said?
Easy.
God FORTHGIVES us the ability to Choose to sin, or to Choose not to sin.
That means God's given us the ability to Choose. That's called the gift of Free Will.

Why would I say that God FORTHGIVES us the ability to sin or not?
Because God's Plan is for us all to love Him - unconditionally.
The only way that love is given unconditionally is if it's freely given, that is, freely chosen to be given.

So, God gives us a gift - right up front - to be able to do what we choose.
Therefore, beforehand, God gave us the ability to sin or to not sin, hoping that we will choose HIM and not choose sin.

That, to me, is saying that sin is FORTHGIVEN or, in today's vernacular, sin is FORGIVEN.


Patty

But aren't some acts unforgivable? What I mean is, aren't there some crimes committed against you or your loved ones that can not be forgiven?

There is only one unforgiveable thing - unbelief.

Christ is willing to forgive everything though. in 1st John it says that if we confess our sins, He WILL forgive us. It gives no exceptions, in fact

Originally posted by Gerry
In the Flesh I think maybe so. But in the Spirit, through the Love of Christ, se are able to forgive all.

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Thank you Gerry.

Originally posted by Annabel Lee
But aren't some acts unforgivable? What I mean is, aren't there some crimes committed against you or your loved ones that can not be forgiven?

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Hey Annabel Lee,

I read about where Jesus said that all sins can be forgiven, but what cannot be forgiven is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

I figured that one out this way:

To blaspheme means to speak ill of God, knowing that what one is saying is not true.
God cannot forth-give that because of this: To know God is to love God.

When one knows God, one loves God, and when one loves God, it would be impossible to speak ill of God.

A person who speaks ill of the Holy Spirit cannot truly know God.

So, in my opinion, blasphemy cannot be forgiven because it is impossible to commit.

Likewise, a man sins - in any way - because he does not really know God. He sins because he knows he is doing wrong. A sin is a conscious and deliberate effort one makes to do something harmful, when one knows of a better alternative to the sin.

And, a man who chooses to to something harmful thus is someone who is not aware of God's goodness.

But, to commit blasphemy has a prerequisite to be aware of God's goodness, which is a prerequisite that other sins do not have.

Patty

Originally posted by Annabel Lee
But aren't some acts unforgivable? What I mean is, aren't there some crimes committed against you or your loved ones that can not be forgiven?

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I think that some acts are unforgivable, as we are only human. In certain situations it is almost impossible to forgive another, due to the severity of the crime inflicted. The best we can hope for is Understanding, which hopefully will lead to Compassion. Otherwise we might spend our entire lives Hating...

What do you think, Annabel Lee?

(I see a quote by Patty that is meaningful to me regarding this topic ..."Peace Through Understanding")

Originally posted by Nevaeh
I think that some acts are unforgivable, as we are only human. In certain situations it is almost impossible to forgive another, due to the severity of the crime inflicted. The best we can hope for is Understanding, which hopefully will lead to Compassion. Otherwise we might spend our entire lives Hating...

What do you think, Annabel Lee?

(I see a quote by Patty that is meaningful to me regarding this topic ..."Peace Through Understanding")

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I was thinking along the lines of horrific crimes.
Am I required, as a Christian to forgive my rapist?
Am I required, as a Christian, to forgive the murderer who took my child's life? (these are just examples, btw)
And are we required to forgive Hitler for his crimes against humanity?

You can mouth the words, "I forgive you.", I suppose.. but how in your heart do you truly forgive acts like these?

Yeah, we're required to forgive. Even if it didn't say so in the Bible, I think God would still require that of me. I tend to hold grudges unless people actually come to me, admit they were wrong, and ask for my forgiveness. That doesn't always happen, though, and when I'm having trouble truly forgiving someone, NOTHING feels right until I do.

Originally posted by Annabel Lee
I was thinking along the lines of horrific crimes.
Am I required, as a Christian to forgive my rapist?
Am I required, as a Christian, to forgive the murderer who took my child's life? (these are just examples, btw)
And are we required to forgive Hitler for his crimes against humanity?

You can mouth the words, "I forgive you.", I suppose.. but how in your heart do you truly forgive acts like these?

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I was thinking about horrific crimes as well, and I personally know no way to forgive the people that commit them. I don't know how it is possible. The best I can hope for is understanding. When I say understanding, I mean that I try to imagine what these people must have gone through that made them this way... what terrible circumstances must have been inflcted upon them. It is no excuse, but helps me gain a bit of clarity. I then attempt to feel compassion , but I have absolutely no idea how to forgive.

Originally posted by Annabel Lee
I was thinking along the lines of horrific crimes.
Am I required, as a Christian to forgive my rapist?
Am I required, as a Christian, to forgive the murderer who took my child's life? (these are just examples, btw)
And are we required to forgive Hitler for his crimes against humanity?

You can mouth the words, "I forgive you.", I suppose.. but how in your heart do you truly forgive acts like these?

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Yes.

We forgive not from our own hearts and minds, but because we have been forgiven by God from the things we've done. We forgive through His heart, knowing full well how the shameful, hurtful things He has forgiven us.

Originally posted by Gerry
Perhaps so, bit it makes it pretty hard to deal with these Words of Jesus!

Matthew 6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

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Gerry,

And if someone has committed a horrific crime upon you, the question is...HOW do you go about this?

Originally posted by Nevaeh

And if someone has committed a horrific crime upon you, the question is...HOW do you go about this?

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What good does it do to hold on to the pain and bitterness that unforgiveness wroughts?

How does it glorify God to refuse to forgive? How does it help anyone or reverse the crime by failing to forgive.

Forgiveness is an act of determination, not an emotion. You don't "feel" forgiveness, you act forgiveness. You determine to let go of your right to avenge the crime, act, sin, whatever.

It's a letting go of vengence.

Can you let go of your right to seek vengence against a rapist? Yes.

Can you let go of your right to avenge your child's murder? Yes.

Can you let go of your right to hate Hitler? Yes.

You can still hold Hitler responsible for what he did, but let go of your hate, too. Forgiveness and punishment are not mutually exclusive.

God didn't say, "Forgive if you can, but if you can't, don't worry about it."

What He said was "love your enemies, pray for those that persecute you."

It IS impossible to forgive people with horrific crimes like that...

without the love of God in you.

And even with the Lord, it'd sure be hard.