A Paradox
“God works against evil and suffering. But God, in immense divine power and inscrutable divine wisdom, also works through evil and suffering.”
–Miroslav Volf, Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace, p. 30
Category: Forgiveness
10 Posts
Many Opportunities
“No matter how different the rest of our challenges may be, every believer can count on a multitude of challenges to forgive. Remember, God’s primary agenda in the life of a believer is to conform the child into the likeness of his Son, Jesus Christ. No other word sums up His character in relationship to us like the word forgiving. We never look more like Christ than when we forgive; since that’s God’s goal, we’re destined for plenty of opportunities!”
–Beth Moore, Praying God’s Word, p. 219
Lasting Love
“There is a great deal of ‘how to’ literature about keeping love alive that can be distilled into two words: persistent effort. When we are held back, pushed aside, ignored, hurt, rejected, we must be like the heart that keeps beating even in the damaged body; we must persist. If we are not prepared to be resilient in love, we need to be prepared for a short relationship!
“Nearly everyone is guilty of having thrown up their hands in despair over some seemingly loveless act or unsolvable problem in relating. Every attempt at rectifying the situation seemed to push us into another dizzying failure until we finally lost the motivation, if not the reason, to try once more.
“Since we cannot live without love, we must rise up and try again. It helps if we keep in mind that there are few obstacles that can resist perseverance, determination, patience, and most of all, more love.”
–Leo Buscaglia, Born for Love, p. 33
Perfectionism
“When we relinquish the neurotic need to be perfect, we are freed of the pressures of sainthood and can learn from our mistakes instead of being destroyed by them.”
— Leo Buscaglia, Born for Love, p. 32
God’s Job
“We can’t forgive: that’s the work of the Spirit. We’re too damaged. But we can be willing. And in the meantime, try not to break his fingers.”
–Anne Lamott, quoting a friend in Grace (Eventually), p. 194
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
Not About Forgetting
“No, we remember, but in forgiving we no longer use the memory against others.”
– Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, p. 187
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
God loves to forgive.
[Jesus] “teaches us in this way because he knows how very much God loves to forgive. It is the one thing he yearns to do, aches to do, rushes to do. At the very heart of the universe is God’s desire to give and to forgive.”
— Richard J. Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home