Forgiveness

About 30 of us have just finished four weeks thinking about grace using Philip Yancey's What's so amazing about grace as a guide. The whole area of forgiveness predictably gave us a few difficulties.

One of the questions I asked last night was: "Can you forgive someone who doesn't have a sense that they need to be forgiven?" Through the Gospel lens the answer to all our problems with forgiveness is always 'Yes' - seventy times seven etc etc. But this is never an easy yes...

A friend reminded me this week that forgiveness is usually costly... the one who makes the move to forgive may have to bear the burden for a long time, I think this is especially so if the one forgiven doesn't have a sense that there is anything they have done that needs forgiveness.

One conclusion we did come up with in the group is that forgiveness is a gift... a grace... our struggles with it are set within a broader context... God's gracious pardon of us... with God's help nothing is impossible... even the possibility that someone who considers themselves the most wronged can take the first step.

Here's a quote I found helpful... "Because it goes against human nature, forgiveness must be taught and practiced, as one would practice any difficult craft. 'Forgiveness is not just an occasional act: it is a permanent attitude,' said Martin Luther King Jr. What greater gift could Christians give to the world than the forming of a culture that upholds grace and forgiveness?"

p137 What's so amazing about grace