Christians: Are You Forgiving?

[ChristineES]

I am just wondering how many people who are Christians forgive others. Jesus taught that we must forgive others in order to be forgiven:

Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;

And he taught what would happen if you didn't forgive.

Mat 6:15 but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 

[Dunemeister]

Not me. I don't forgive anything. I keep a list a mile long, carefully recording every last thing people do to wrong or even annoy me. You just made the list.

 

[Charity]

I try very hard to forgive. It's forgetting about what upset me to begin with that is my problem....In order to receive forgiveness you have to forgive. It's not always easy.

 

[Mister Emu]

Not me. I don't forgive anything. I keep a list a mile long, carefully recording every last thing people do to wrong or even annoy me. You just made the list.

Hahaha

 

[Katzpur]

When someone intentionally does something to harm me or someone I love, my first, almost instinctive reaction is anger. My first conscious thoughts are of retaliation, even though I seldom act on them in any way except to rant and rave to anyone who happens to be within earshot. As odd as this may sound in light of my initial response, I am generally very willing to forgive most anyone who recognizes his or her guilt and expresses remorse for having wronged me. I can forgive pretty much anything of a person, as long as he is sincerely sorry for what he has done. What I have an extremely difficult time doing is forgiving someone who feels no remorse for having wronged me and whom I know would do the same thing again in a minute. Those are the people I have a hard time forgiving.

 

[tomspug]

I forgive others as often as I forgive myself.

 

[S-word]

I am just wondering how many people who are Christians forgive others. Jesus taught that we must forgive others in order to be forgiven:

And he taught what would happen if you didn't forgive.

Well I for one forgive everyone who wrongs me, but I still demand that they be held accountable for their crime, I know that God forgives my wrongs, but still expects me to be held accountable for those wrongs. We don't want to live in a society where people think that they can do whatever they wish and be forgiven and not held accountable for their actions, do we?

 

[Mister Emu]

For my response, I try my best to forgive easily...

 

[Katzpur]

I forgive others as often as I forgive myself.

How often is that? Some people are a lot more forgiving of themselves than other people are.

 

[dawny0826]

I do my best. I can honestly say, I don't bottle my emotions. If I'm hurt or angry...I quickly work through those emotions. Forgiveness isn't hard. It's hard sometimes to forget, to be reminded of hurt and anger.

 

[ChristineES]

It is much easier for me to forgive than it is to forget. I forgive easily (or at least I try to) but any trust would have to be re-earned. I think that is probably true of most people.

 

[sandy whitelinger]

Not me. I don't forgive anything. I keep a list a mile long, carefully recording every last thing people do to wrong or even annoy me. You just made the list.

Are you Santa Claus?

 

[sandy whitelinger]

Actually I forgive rather easily but I'm not sure but that I may just tend towards apathy in general.

 

[Charity]

Christine, I'm such a forgiving person that I even forgive you for asking this question......Imagine anything thinking that a person wouldn't forgive :biglaugh::newyear: Just had to joke with you Christine, Happy New Year and blessings to you and your family......

 

[danny vee]

I forgive others as often as I forgive myself.

Can you forgive yourself though? I think that only God can forgive us. And to have ourselves forgiven we must ask for His mercy.

 

[S-word]

Can you forgive yourself though? I think that only God can forgive us. And to have ourselves forgiven we must ask for His mercy.

What! do you believe, that to be forgiven, we must beg for the mercy of God? Surely your loving and all forgiving God forgives all sin, and we are free to do as we please.

 

[Katzpur]

Can you forgive yourself though? I think that only God can forgive us. And to have ourselves forgiven we must ask for His mercy.

I've given this some thought, Danny. Let me tell you why I disagree. Jesus told us to forgive everyone and that if we don't forgive everyone, God won't forgive us. The way I see it, Jesus atoned for our sins. Since he did, I am obligated to forgive myself (because I am part of the "everyone" I'm supposed to forgive). If I refuse to forgive myself, or cannot forgive myself, I'm saying, "Lord, your sacrifice for my sins was in vain." We can't move forward and progress unless we are willing to forgive ourselves. It's part of the repentance process. It's our way of telling Him that we accept His sacrifice and his mercy. If God can forgive us, I believe He wants us to forgive ourselves. That's the only way we can find peace.

 

[danny vee]

What! do you believe, that to be forgiven, we must beg for the mercy of God? Surely your loving and all forgiving God forgives all sin, and we are free to do as we please.

My loving and forgiving God is the same one as yours. Perhaps I stated this too harshly. What I meant was that whatever we ask for we will be given. So when we accept the dirt of our sin and ask the Lord to cleanse us with mercy, He will do so. And no we shouldn't feel we are free to do as we please. If we did that temptation would take over because our "as we please" is not necessarily the right thing. We should give the control of our lives to God because He knows what's right.

 

[danny vee]

I've given this some thought, Danny. Let me tell you why I disagree. Jesus told us to forgive everyone and that if we don't forgive everyone, God won't forgive us. The way I see it, Jesus atoned for our sins. Since he did, I am obligated to forgive myself (because I am part of the "everyone" I'm supposed to forgive). If I refuse to forgive myself, or cannot forgive myself, I'm saying, "Lord, your sacrifice for my sins was in vain." We can't move forward and progress unless we are willing to forgive ourselves. It's part of the repentance process. It's our way of telling Him that we accept His sacrifice and his mercy. If God can forgive us, I believe He wants us to forgive ourselves. That's the only way we can find peace.

Well that's one way to see it. But I don't think we can forgive ourselves. Just like we can't save ourselves. Only God can save us. However we can help to save ourselves and others by forgiving them, and allowing God to forgive us. And no, our Christ's death was not in vain if it taught us who to turn to when we sin and repent. He sacrificed Himself for our sins, so that God could forgive them.

 

[S-word]

My loving and forgiving God is the same one as yours. Perhaps I stated this too harshly. What I meant was that whatever we ask for we will be given. So when we accept the dirt of our sin and ask the Lord to cleanse us with mercy, He will do so. And no we shouldn't feel we are free to do as we please. If we did that temptation would take over because our "as we please" is not necessarily the right thing. We should give the control of our lives to God because He knows what's right.

Acts 2: 23, 'In accordance with his own plan God had already decided that Jesus would be handed over to you; and you killed him by letting sinful men crucify him.'

We should give the control of our lives to God because He knows what's right.

Like Judas iscariot did, right?