Justice is God’s

Forgiveness, God 0

We sometimes feel that, if we forgive someone, justice will not be served.  They’ll get off scot-free.  We’ll be doing little more than giving them permission to do wrong again, seeing how easily we let them get away with it this time.

From a human perspective, this makes sense.  But our minds need to be renewed to think God’s way.  According to God’s Word, wrongdoers will get their just due.  But we’re not the ones responsible to mete out the penalty….

Letting the offender off your hook doesn’t mean he’s off God’s hook.  Forgiveness releases the accused from your custody and turns him over to God — the righteous Judge — the one and only One who is both able and responsible for meting out justice.

And so what feels like the height of unfairness, what seems to be nothing more than giving our offender the pass, actually becomes for us a step of freedom….

But listen to Joseph’s response to his distraught brothers:  “Don’t be afraid.  Am I in the place of God?” (Genesis 50:19 NIV).

What wise, humble words!  Am I in the place of God?  Is it my job to make you pay for what you’ve done?  Do I really want the added burden of this after all I’ve been through already?  Isn’t it foolish to think that revenge could be as sweet as advertised — sweet enough to make up for the pain of all these years?

— Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Choosing Forgiveness, p. 92-94

Forgiveness from Christ

Forgiveness, God 0

While forgiveness is indeed costly, it is not beyond the means of those who have Christ’s life flowing within them.  When God tells us to love our enemies, He also gives us the love to go along with the command.

Yes, you can do this… because He can do this….

And so because He has forgiven us — and because of His boundless life which now indwells us — what offense is too great for us to forgive?

— Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Choosing Forgiveness, p. 90-92

A Choice

Forgiveness, Healing 0

When we get hurt, no matter how serious the offense or how deep the wound, God has grace available to help us deal with the offense and forgive the offender.  At that point, we have one of two choices:  We can acknowledge our need and humbly reach out to Him for His grace to forgive and release the offender.  Or we can resist Him, fail to receive His grace, and hold on to the hurt.

— Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Choosing Forgiveness, p. 75

Like Drinking Poison

Forgiveness 0

Like drinking poison and hoping someone else would die.  That’s a powerful word picture for what unforgiveness is like in the human heart.  Though it may feel right, though it may seem justified, though it may appear to be the only option available to us, it is destructive and deadly to the one who drinks it.  The very weapon we use to inflict pain on our offender becomes a sword turned inward on ourselves, doing far more damage to us — and to those who love us — than to those who have hurt us.

— Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Choosing Forgiveness:  Your Journey to Freedom, p. 50-51

Freedom in Forgiveness

Forgiveness, Healing 0

When we as God’s children realize that His grace is sufficient for every situation, that by the power of His indwelling Spirit we have the ability to respond with grace and forgiveness to those who have sinned against us — at that point we are no longer victims.  We are free to rise above whatever may have been done to us, to grow through it, and to become instruments of grace, reconciliation, and redemption in the lives of other hurting people and even in the lives of our offenders.

Yes, we can be free — if we choose to be.

— Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Choosing Forgiveness, p. 42

Let me sow love.

Forgiveness, Love 0

You need to realize that when you sow the love of God, you will reap the love of God.  You need to develop faith in this spiritual law — even though you may not harvest it from the field in which you sowed, or as quickly as you would like.

— John Bevere, The Bait of Satan:  Living Free from the Deadly Trap of Offense, p. 14-15

So Different

Forgiveness, Marriage 0

If you’ve got someone who seems opposite to you in almost every respect, you’ve got the right person.  In a sense, your partner is the repository of your rejected strengths.  Forgive your partner and, together, you become whole.

— Hugh Prather, Spiritual Notes to Myself, p. 43

Redemption

Compassion, Core Value, Forgiveness 0

Feeling badly about making a mistake is natural, but punishing yourself forever is never appropriate.

I urge you to fully examine your beliefs about mistakes and forgiveness.  Most people cannot answer this simple question:  “How much penance is appropriate to expunge your mistake?”  I have seen countless people who are continually punishing themselves in an infinite variety of ways because of a perceived transgression in the past.  Holding yourself to a so-called higher standard (others could be forgiven for this, but not me) does not make you a better person.  It only makes you a more miserable person….

It is a choice if you focus on the worst parts of you, rather than the good.  If you are having difficulty, then focus on helping someone in need, rather than wasting your time and effort on chastising yourself.  Do something positive.  Choose to ask for help — from God, your spiritual advisor, or your friends.  Be honest and admit that you are in charge of how you treat yourself, and start treating yourself the way you would a friend.

— Christel Nani, Sacred Choices, p. 230-232

Forgiving Yourself

Forgiveness, Healing, Letting Go, Life 0

To err is human, to forgive is a choice.

The third reason people have difficulty changing a tribal belief is one of the saddest but most firmly held beliefs I have encountered:  Mistakes, transgressions, or sins are not forgivable.…

The worst part about this tribal belief is that because you think you can never be forgiven, you sever your relationship with God or your Higher Power and cut yourself off from receiving divine guidance and recognizing synchronicity at work in your life.

— Christel Nani, Sacred Choices, p. 228