Love is Greater

“But forgiveness means that this real and horrible offense shall not separate us.  Forgiveness means that we will no longer use the offense to drive a wedge between us, hurting and injuring one another.  Forgiveness means that the power of love that holds us together is greater than the power of the offense that separates us.  That is forgiveness.  In forgiveness we are releasing our offenders so that they are no longer bound to us.  In a very real sense we are freeing them to receive God’s grace.  We are also inviting our offenders back into the circle of fellowship.”

— Richard J. Foster, Prayer:  Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 188

Never the Same

“Forgiveness is not acting as if things are just the same as before the offense.  We must face the fact that things will never be the same.  By the grace of God they can be a thousand times better, but they will never again be the same.”

— Richard J. Foster, Prayer:  Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 188

As We Forgive Our Debtors

“So it is with forgiveness.  As long as the only cry heard among us is for vengeance, there can be no reconciliation.  If our hears are so narrow as to see only how others have hurt and offended us, we cannot see how we have offended God and so find no need to seek forgiveness.”

– Richard J. Foster, Prayer:  Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 187