November 13, 2012
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Forgiveness and repentance
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and then to discover that prisoner was you.”
As I was meditating upon forgiveness and its relationship to repentance these thoughts came to my mind.
Can you forgive one who has wronged you, even when they have not asked for forgiveness?
I have heard many state that one has to ask for forgiveness from God before they obtain it. If that is true and your able to forgive another when they have not asked, have you not made your self more able to forgive than God?
Perhaps the key is to understand that God accepts the payment Christ made. That our repentance is simply our way of accepting the debt has already been paid.
It’s not God who needs to forgive, but our needing to believe that the debt is paid.
The gift has already forever been placed in front of all of us, but picking it up is our choice.
Comments (11)
This was very good Bro. Lewis. It does take forgiveness and repentance for us to have true forgiveness. Bro. Doc
@BroDoc - Thank you Bro Doc!
Luke 17:3-43 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
@liz4christ - Liz are you using that verse to say we only forgive those that ask for it?
@Lewis1122 - That is what Jesus teaches and we are to be like him not above him.
@liz4christ - Thanks Liz for answering my question.
my sister has said to me that you cant forgive when someone doesn't ask for it.........but the Lord says that what we bind on earth is bound in heaven and in Malachi, I think it is, there is a book of remembrance written by the saints.........I have learned over the years that for me to forgive is important to my own mental health, I have to turn things loose and lay them at the cross, and believe me......it took years before I was really able to do that.......sometimes forgiving is about shaping ourselves into the image of Christ.........on the cross, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And the truth is.......seems to me, that without Christ, a lot of people behave like intelligent animals, no more, no less.........and the thing is........Jesus died for them too, even if they reject him and never receive the gift. If they are important to him........then.........I guess I have to esteem them as well.
@alterb4ego - Amen! That is the point I was trying to share, it is just as much for us to forgive as it is for those we forgive. We forgive freely, it is up to the other to accept it or reject it, that is the same as I view Christ's sacifice. How could we love others that we have not forgiven, forgiveness to me is free, accepting it or not is the key. Christ sacrifice the more we use it to forgive others the more we embrace it to forgive our selves.
Amen!
Great Post here....
Forgiveness is the key to living bitter free.....
I learned to forgive, even before I was asked to forgive.....
As many of you know, I'm a survivor of abuse....Before I became a Christian, my whole being was filled with bitterness and hatred....After I became a Christian the first thing I did, was forgive....I forgave the people who hurt me...No they never asked. Except for one, years later, many years later....And when that person asked, I told that person, "I forgave you a long time ago."
The forgiveness took away the bitterness, and allowed God to show me the hatred I was harboring....And through His showing, I was able to let go....Let go of the hatred, so that His love could shine through....
I know what Jesus said in the Bible, but I also believe that God is the one, who showed me how to forgive, before I'm even asked....
@ellie1945 - Amen Ellie, it is a freedom when we forgive others without waiting for their asking. Jesus paid for all sin, it is our asking which is our way of accepting it, but to God the debt is paid in full. We are judged according to how we judge, we are forgiven according to how we forgive, we forgive freely and recieve the gift freely. We cannot give what we do not have, we feel the forgivness of God we give that forgiveness, just like the love he shows us we show others. Our example we show others is the same example we feel we are being shown by our God.