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I read the following verse which I am familiar with:
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Mathew 6:14
Why is it so hard to forgive others who trespass against us when we feel offended, deeply hurt and betrayed?
I don't know if I completely agree with this. If asked, I can retell the story of my first marriage and subsequent divorce so I obviously haven't forgotten about it. I still remember when I met my first wife, our first kiss, our wedding, or lives together. In order for me to forget completely the pain I endured leading up to our divorce and after, I would have to forget her and our life together, which would also require me to forget my son, his wife, and my grandson.I'll say this very clearly. It is impossible to forgive others, and I do mean honestly forgive them, until you understand the forgiveness God gives you. Often times the ones that struggle with forgiveness are the ones who do not find their sin toward God 'all that bad'. They generally believe they are 'better' than most.
My first wife died of Liver failure, she drank herself to death and my third wife does not live here anymore. I hold no animosity for any of them and they all three cheated on me. My second wife and I are friends but we never discuss the past.I don't know if I completely agree with this. If asked, I can retell the story of my first marriage and subsequent divorce so I obviously haven't forgotten about it. I still remember when I met my first wife, our first kiss, our wedding, or lives together. In order for me to forget completely the pain I endured leading up to our divorce and after, I would have to forget her and our life together, which would also require me to forget my son, his wife, and my grandson.
But I can assure you that I no longer hold anything against her and no animosity toward her or me at all for what happened. I believe I have forgiven her and myself. Regret? Yes, I regret that things turned out the way they did.
Luke 7:47 (NIV)
47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
I don't know if I completely agree with this. If asked, I can retell the story of my first marriage and subsequent divorce so I obviously haven't forgotten about it. I still remember when I met my first wife, our first kiss, our wedding, or lives together. In order for me to forget completely the pain I endured leading up to our divorce and after, I would have to forget her and our life together, which would also require me to forget my son, his wife, and my grandson.
But I can assure you that I no longer hold anything against her and no animosity toward her or me at all for what happened. I believe I have forgiven her and myself. Regret? Yes, I regret that things turned out the way they did.
I read the following verse which I am familiar with:
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Mathew 6:14
Why is it so hard to forgive others who trespass against us when we feel offended, deeply hurt and betrayed?
Doesn't Scripture say that God does more than just not count? I don't know where it is but I remember God saying He will remember our sins no more or something along those lines.I just had a long conversation with a coworker on this also. Forgetting is not the same as not remembering - as in - vanish from thought. Forgetting is 'not counting', like God does to us.
Doesn't Scripture say that God does more than just not count? I don't know where it is but I remember God saying He will remember our sins no more or something along those lines.
As I expressed before, I believe it is possible to forgive without forgetting. I forgave my wife, I did not forget what happened and I do not count it against her anymore. I believe that is forgiveness. God is capable of totally forgetting but I don't know if we are.
Some thing we are to remember .. forget who molested my grandkids .. not gonna happen... Some things are degrees ...
so then you would not hesitate to have that guy alone with other kids.?Its possible - I assure you.
Nathan,Sure, you'll never put it out of your memory. But you can forgive them - the same way God forgives you. And you can forget(not recollect) it also. Its possible - I assure you.
As the OP stated, its hard. Forgiveness is not easy - in order for God to do it He had to sacrifice His own Son. I think we bypass over that too quick. We so easily lay aside what it meant for Jesus to die for our sins.
We set 'levels' or 'degrees' of wrong doing. Some things are more hurtful to us than others. Yet God forgives us in a true sense, and continues to forgive us - even when we willfully sin.
Think about it. We don't sin in ignorance anymore(if we are in the faith). When we sin, we know exactly what that sin caused - yet we still do it.
In our mind, molestation of a child is a horrific act. No doubt. Is it worse than crucifying the Son of God? Why do we think our sin is less evil than someone else?
This is how we can forgive. It is how only those who are believers can actually truly forgive. The only way to possibly forgive someone is if you understand that you have been forgiven - and what your sin was to God.
A quick look at the OT laws will let ya know sin has degrees....
so then you would not hesitate to have that guy alone with other kids.?
I should not have gone so personal
I should not have gone so personal
From Him to us No... in Humans yes...Does forgiveness have degrees?