Are we true followers?

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arunangelo

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When we were unfaithful to Him, and deserted Him, God did not break His covenant of love with us. When we sinned against Him, abused and killed Him, He did not take revenge; on the contrary, He sacrificed His life for us, so that our sins against Him would be forgiven and we may have eternal life.

Are we true followers of Jesus, if our forgiveness is not similar to that of God’s?
 
Did not Jesus tell us to forgive not but 7 times but 70 times 7?
 
We should want to forgive.

When we find that we cannot forgive, we should pray for the graces to desire to forgive.

As long as we acknowledge our imperfections and strive for improvement, we are true followers of Jesus.
 
Amen!!! I always say that forgiveness is more for the forgiver than the forgiven. First of all, you are right, Jesus did say forgive 70 X 7 times because the Jews, so afraid of being seen as week actually had laws as to how many times they should forgive in a lifetime. I am sure this blew their minds…“What! 70 X 7 times, you must be nuts, our last rabbi said 6 times in our lifetime! What are you thinking???” This was totally unheard of for them. Next, if you consider that we are called to live a “Christ-like” life, we must be forgiving. Our beloved Christ gave his life for us, shouldn’t we be willing to do the same? I used to struggle with the concept of forgiving people that hurt my children…I could forgive anything but that it seemed. Then I realized that my anger and yes, even hatred was eating me alive. I still remember going to confession after that revelation. It was incredible!!! I was so hurt and so angry when I went in. I actually scared a nun…now that is bad! During the Penance service it occured to me…you know the one I am mad at has no clue and is going on with their life. And here I was so eaten up by anger I couldn’t forgive them…and worse, it was interfering with my relationship with God…Why am I doing this to myself? It obviously wasn’t hurting the other person…as far as I could see, just hurting me and my relationship with God…hmmmmm. So, I trek into the confessional and just looked at the priest and whispered…I am soo angry and burst into tears. Wow, I am so not like that! The priest was so totally awesome! I told him about how I was sitting there and it occured to me that my anger and my unforgiveness was what was causing a separation between me and God in my life. It was like a miracle…as soon as I asked for help to get over my anger and forgiveness for it…this incredible calm just came over me. I was happy for the first time in years. Afterwards, that nun I had scared was waiting for me. Oh no… I looked at her and said, “How amazing, as soon as I went to reconcilliation, all my anger just went away.” She looked at me and laughed, probably because she knew it would and I was stupid enough not to know, then she hugged me…I so needed that! Did my forgiveness of the person that hurt my children help them?..No idea, but it sure made a world of difference in my life!!!
 
arunangelo said:
When we were unfaithful to Him, and deserted Him, God did not break His covenant of love with us. When we sinned against Him, abused and killed Him, He did not take revenge; on the contrary, He sacrificed His life for us, so that our sins against Him would be forgiven and we may have eternal life.

Are we true followers of Jesus, if our forgiveness is not similar to that of God’s?
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Hi there Arunangelo…an excellent observation and something to ardently desire and strive for…to not be discouraged if we fail and to persevere in loving forgiveness no matter…and The Lord’s will be the increase.

Peace…Barb
 
BlestOne,

I had similar experience with others in parish leadership. So many people are in those positions who have no clue what the gospels even say much less use them as a basis for good stewardship of a parish – not to mention follow our own written policies – that I became very angry. Once I got angry, the harder I tried to convince them to “quit hurting my people” and the less my message got through, causing me to eventually become quite frantic.

They didn’t hear me because their shields went up the instant my anger and frustration began to show. It turned out to be about my ability to forgive and work well with others whom, in my perception, were not forgiving others. :whacky:

Alan
 
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AlanFromWichita:
BlestOne,

I had similar experience with others in parish leadership. So many people are in those positions who have no clue what the gospels even say much less use them as a basis for good stewardship of a parish – not to mention follow our own written policies – that I became very angry. Once I got angry, the harder I tried to convince them to “quit hurting my people” and the less my message got through, causing me to eventually become quite frantic.

They didn’t hear me because their shields went up the instant my anger and frustration began to show. It turned out to be about my ability to forgive and work well with others whom, in my perception, were not forgiving others. :whacky:

Alan
Click to expand...
“They have persecuted me and they will persecute you”

Hi there Alan…the first time I went to a Parish Council Meeting I was delighted that it began with a Gospel Reading and Discussion…and then when the Meeting proper got underway, in my greeness and inexperience, I was really confused as to what happened to our Gospel Discussion resolutions and when I tried to point out the problem was totally dismissed.:whacky:

…isn’t the gift of Prayer overwhelming!..I may not be able to achieve anything at all seemingly, but I can pray and know that I am heard and answered…

Regards Alan…Barb
 
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