Forgiveness

[Lambano]

Exactly my question! Jesus did not forgive those who did not confess or at least own their sin.

And I'm not sure that's always true.

3 Then a paralytic was brought to Him, carried by four men. 4 Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:3-5

In this particular vignette, Jesus takes the initiative to forgive sins based on faith; and not even the person's own faith, but his friends' trust.

 

[Pet]

The point I was trying to make in this thread was,
Forgiveness for people who tried to ruin your life is not easy.
Yet, we know we need to forgive.
Pretending, Blocking it, or simply saying it, doesn’t count.
The heart needs to be changed.
Only The Lord can change the heart.

People say, "you have to be willing", well I wasn't, yet The Lord gave me forgiveness anyway AND He took away the memories.

 

[Lambano]

The point I was trying to make in this thread was,
Forgiveness for people who tried to ruin your life is not easy.
Yet, we know we need to forgive.
Pretending, Blocking it, or simply saying it, doesn’t count.
The heart needs to be changed.
Only The Lord can change the heart.

People say, "you have to be willing", well I wasn't, yet The Lord gave me forgiveness anyway AND He took away the memories.

What do you do when you can't forgive and the healing doesn't come?

I've never had anyone hurt me like that, so I'm no one to preach. But I've seen others who carry the bitterness with them all their lives.

 

[Sister-n-Christ]

And I'm not sure that's always true.

3 Then a paralytic was brought to Him, carried by four men. 4 Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:3-5

In this particular vignette, Jesus takes the initiative to forgive sins based on faith; and not even the person's own faith, but his friends' trust.

I believe the paralytic had faith. Which is why Jesus referred to him as Son.

Otherwise,the paralytic would not have agreed to be brought to Jesus. Much less let himself be lowered through a roof.

 

[TLHKAJ]

In 2016 though, I had a breakthrough. I had prayed, yet again, then concluded that it was impossible, and that The Lord actually understood! I was off the hook.
Then, at a gathering, i glanced over at one of them with the usual disgust, and saw, for the first time, something heart-rending. I saw that God absolutely loved them, and that they were broken.

The strangest thing was, I wasn't even in the equation. It was between them and The Lord, and their salvation was all that mattered, to God and me.

So, the forgiveness, for me, came in the form of compassion. It was forgiveness, and it was NOTHING of me.

Then I noticed that I had completely forgotten what they did! It was absolutely gone.
So, i know that we can forgive and forget.

What they meant for harm, The Lord meant for good...

This sounds a lot like how God worked with me toward my father and some others. And yet, I didn't forget the things that happened .. but God took the sting and the pain. I can look back and rather than just seeing and feeling the pain, injury, sadness, contamination, etc ....I see God's love and grace, and the amazing truths He has spoken to my own heart. He has unraveled the lies that took hold in my heart as a result of those traumas and taken them away, replacing them with His truth.

 

[Pet]

What do you do when you can't forgive and the healing doesn't come?

I've never had anyone hurt me like that, so I'm no one to preach. But I've seen others who carry the bitterness with them all their lives.

For the person that i can't forgive, (for nearly 30 yrs), I've tried everything, but resorted to asking people to pray.
I refuse to pretend that I've forgiven them. I need clarification from The Lord, (like the last one).

 

[Pet]

This sounds a lot like how God worked with me toward my father and some others. And yet, I didn't forget the things that happened .. but God took the sting and the pain. I can look back and rather than just seeing and feeling the pain, injury, sadness, contamination, etc ....I see God's love and grace, and the amazing truths He has spoken to my own heart. He has unraveled the lies that took hold in my heart as a result of those traumas and taken them away, replacing them with His truth.

Your testimony is inspirational

 

[Nancy]

And I'm not sure that's always true.

3 Then a paralytic was brought to Him, carried by four men. 4 Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Mark 2:3-5

In this particular vignette, Jesus takes the initiative to forgive sins based on faith; and not even the person's own faith, but his friends' trust.

Well, there is that...I hope my friends have a lot of faith! Lol. Thanks bro!
What of a family member who holds grudges or bears false witness about you and lies to you? Even so, this family member does not in general ever own up to her own issues but always points the finger. I don't remember her ever taking responsibility for her lot in life. She will slap the olive branch from your hand every time, it's so very difficult to continue to try this over and over to no adieu. All it does is bring back all the negative feelings and the reminders of what she has done hence, I get upset all over again. The bible says to get along with all men, as far as it is up to you...I feel I have done my part so many times but have to back off as it brings nothing but sadness AND anger! HATE those emotions and do not wish to continue in this vein.

 

[Windmill Charge]

What do you do when you can't forgive and the healing doesn't come?

I've never had anyone hurt me like that, so I'm no one to preach. But I've seen others who carry the bitterness with them all their lives.

Coming into this part way.

Forgiveness is always conditional upon repentance.

No repentance, no requirement for us to forgive.


Which leaves us with how do we handle our feelings etc. We copy Jesus, who on the cross did NOT forgive his crucified but rather prayed to his Father asking him to forgive them.

The whole O T teaches that repentance comes before forgiveness.
The devout Jew who sinned would go to the temple to offer a sacrifice for sin, he would lay his hand on its head as its throat was cut.
Two acts of repentance to gain symbolic forgiveness.
As it says, " If my people who are called by my name will humble themselfs ( repent ) and pray, then I will hear in heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land. "

The unrepentant offender we hand to God, praying about their offence, it's affect on yourself, and to pray for the offender.


We are to live peacefuly with everyone as far as it is in our power.
So abusive family members can be avoided etc.