Why must we forgive?

[arunangelo]

We must be merciful, just as our Father is merciful (Luke. 6:36), because, He is our God. If we truly are followers of Christ, we too will forgive as He does (Eph 4:32). He forgave by sacrificing His life for those who betrayed Him, were unfaithful to Him and killed Him.

 

[Marilena]

arunangelo:

We must be merciful, just as our Father is merciful (Luke. 6:36), because, He is our God. If we truly are followers of Christ, we too will forgive as He does (Eph 4:32). He forgave by sacrificing His life for those who betrayed Him, were unfaithful to Him and killed Him.

Not only that, Christ said “Father, forgive them for they know not
what they do” ( He was referring to the ones who had a part in crucifying Him) If Christ can forgive those, then who are we not
to forgive others? Christ said we must forgive.

 

[ReformedCatholic]

Marilena:

Not only that, Christ said “Father, forgive them for they know not
what they do” ( He was referring to the ones who had a part in crucifying Him) If Christ can forgive those, then who are we not
to forgive others? Christ said we must forgive.

And it’s very interesting that forgiveness represents a healthy form of closure for the person forgiving. There are definite physical and psychological detriments to holding onto animosity, conflict, resentment, hatred, etc., and not arriving at forgiveness.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Resentment and grudges for unforgiven wrongs tend to dominate our lives and actions. Only through forgiveness can we reject these false idols and return our focus to God.

 

[michaelmac]

Hi all, you do not have to forgive, if you was hurt as a child, and there is no verse in the bible says you have , and not forgiving does not mean it dominates your life, it can if you let it, i have been accused in the past of hating, if the person new me in real life they would know this is not the case yours michaelmac

 

[thistle]

Luke 6:37 “Forgive and you will be forgiven.”

I we can’t forgive others then how can we expect God to forgive us?

 

[thistle]

thistle:

Luke 6:37 “Forgive and you will be forgiven.”

I we can’t forgive others then how can we expect God to forgive us?

I forgot to include this.

Jesus said, “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Matthew 6:14-15

 

[michaelmac]

Hi thistle Christ did not forgive those who hurt chidren so why would God yours mixhaelmac

 

[thistle]

michaelmac:

Hi thistle Christ did not forgive those who hurt chidren so why would God yours mixhaelmac

Sorry but I don’t understand where you get that from. What is your source of that statement?

 

[michaelmac]

Hi thistle Matthew 18 states it would be better for him to have a mill stone hung round his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea,alas for the world that such causes of stumbling to arise. come they must, woe betide them the man through whom they come

 

[thistle]

michaelmac:

Hi thistle Matthew 18 states it would be better for him to have a mill stone hung round his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea,alas for the world that such causes of stumbling to arise. come they must, woe betide them the man through whom they come

You have to read a bit more of Matt 18 and not the little bit you quoted. Jesus is talking about the temptation to sin and that childlike simplicity that is demanded especially of the apostles who must lead the Church with a spirit of servanthood and humility.
“whoever causes one of these little ones to sin” is about religious scandal being a stumbling block to for others and may cause some members of the Church to lose their faith.
“a great millstine hung around his neck”
“if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out”
Jesus is simply using severe language to underline the great dangers of sin.
He is not saying if you hurt a child you cannot be forgiven.

In fact if you read Mark 3:28-30 …**all sins ** and balsphemies that people utter will be forgiven…

To take extreme examples:

if you are violently and sexually abused by a parent you must forgive them. if they are truly sorry, are repentant and ask for forgiveness in the Sacrament of reconciliation they will be forgiven.
if your best friend has an affair with your wife you must forgive them and again if they are truly sorry, repent and ask for forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation they will be forgiven.
In other words God’s mercy is greater than all sins.

 

[michaelmac]

Hi thistle do you have to forgive them if they are not repentant ,what happens if a priest says your ging to hell, after you have told him you know longer believe in the churchs teaching,do you have to forgive the Pope if his words say you are doing some thing and all your doing is telling the truth,and he has not said sorry for his words yours michaelmac

 

[thistle]

michaelmac:

Hi thistle do you have to forgive them if they are not repentant ,what happens if a priest says your ging to hell, after you have told him you know longer believe in the churchs teaching,do you have to forgive the Pope if his words say you are doing some thing and all your doing is telling the truth,and he has not said sorry for his words yours michaelmac

Yes you have to forgive a person even if they are not repentent. Forgiveness is not conditional. Maybe in your cult its different but in the true Church (the Catholic Church) founded by Christ we stick to his teachings that you must forgive.

As for the other stuff you have written its just nonsensical and smacks of anti-Catholicism.

 

[michaelmac]

Hi thistle if your accused of sacrilige by the Pope and you have not been ,this is not anti Catholicism, or is it yours michaelmac

 

[Liberalsaved]

The problem is people make it sound so easy, when depending on what someone has done to you, forgiveness can be a herculean task even for people who beleive their faith will see them through. The issue with people who don’t buy the whole “forgiveness” thing, other than the fact that those same people talk about Jesus’s sword when they don’t agree with something, is that we all make it sound so danged easy. And any sane person knows it’s not.

 

[AndyF]

arunangelo:

Why must we forgive?

Indeed, this question crops up especially when we see society, using the credentials of collectivism, laugh in the face of God by refusing to allow reconciliation to it’s citizens who have offended it. Not one entity society will receive the same range of punishment options reserved for individuals, all factors remaining equal. So it is a question of what is deserving, and what are the real options for punishment reserved to all entities in this system of justice.

By default of their class, God will not punish it to the extent He would others. The Redemption will not remove the fact we live in a Devinely classed world with default privledges allotted to some, even in the area of punishment.

This impact means we as individuals will be watched for our behaviour, and we are guaranteed to find damnation if we obstinately refuse to reconcile to another individual or society. We will not find inspiration to conform on examples of God’s “perfect” justice to society, but by sheer terror at the prospect; But if our opponent society does the same, it will still share it’s seat with the prosecution at every individual trial. So while we burn, we will find comfort in the thought others who deserved it won’t.

This is why Justice should not be taken as a part of the Deposit of the Faith. Justice needs to prove it’s worthiness first in the eyes of man, as it is made for man and any other entity who can offend God. Pror to every soul being assigned to it’s body and entry to the temporal testing ground, it should have the right in both worlds of seeing by example the even justice applied, and not at the time of self awareness when it discovers others will always fair better in that process, or at the point of damnation.

In essence, our faith places Justice in the Deposit of the Faith. We shrug in resignation at yet another “mystery” we are to swallow, when we see blatant transgressions punished to the extreme only we can hope to have applied in the same circumstances. We are told once again, 'trust me, when you are sent to hell you really deserve it" doesn’t fly in the face of a higher justice, that states all true Justice must be proven true to start. In the thousands of years of Scriptural history of this world the chances are we should read at least one example of a collective sent to hell in that form in which it has chosen to sin. Of all the occasions where hell was opened for our scrutiny, not one witness stated he saw collectives there. Of all the sermons that Christ made, not once did he state there would be “gnashing of teeth” for obstinate nations either.

What better deterent to get wayward nations to tow the line than the thought it would collectively suffer no different than any individual. We would be cautious in allegiances and in our election. In other words, we would accord it every caution we do any individual. We would have no need to feel squemish at the prospect, we as a society will behaving ourselves. No different principle we would apply to any other.

Andy

 

[thistle]

michaelmac:

Hi thistle if your accused of sacrilige by the Pope and you have not been ,this is not anti Catholicism, or is it yours michaelmac

In the first place the Pope doesn’t know me and even if he did he wouldn’t accuse me of anything so your question is rather silly.

I know what sacrilege is and if I had committed it or not.

CCC 2120 Sacrilege consists in profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions, as well as persons, things, or places consecrated to God. Sacrilege is a grave sin especially when committed against the Eucharist, for in this sacrament the true Body of Christ is made substantially present for us.

 

[michael_quinlan]

The greatest problem with forgiveness is that the devil makes us believe that it is a feeling.( I have a “right” to be angry, hurt, or even vengeful, etc. )Forgiveness is an act of the will that can take days, months, and even years for our emotions to catch up to. We forgive because we know it is the right thing to do. We say we don’t forget because we are still in the process of forgiving. When we have actually forgotten, our process is complete and the totality of forgiveness is achieved.

 

[Holly3278]

Right after the Lord’s prayer in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says this:

Matthew 6:14 RSV For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you;
Matthew 6:15 RSV but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

 

[ericka1701]

I am in the process of forgiving my abuser (it’s been a year since I finally found the strength to come forward and it’s stopped). And yes, it is a process. The importance of forgiveness, I feel, is not just for the other party’s sake, it is for our own sake. I held on to my hatred for a really long time, and I was not able to move on with my life. I stayed stuck in the prior 16 months so well that for the past year I have not been able to work, I relapsed with an eating disorder that had been dormant for 2 years, and ended up coming very close to completely self destructing.

I knew that I needed to let go of all of the hate to begin healing again, so I had a really good confession with a priest, who told me to offer up my suffering up with Christ’s. I had a few really long cries (I hadn’t cried or really felt emotion other than anger for 2 years at that time), and with God’s grace, I am starting to heal. Hopefully in the next month, if all of the details can be worked out, I will be starting school. If not, once I get a car (which won’t be a possibility until after school has been in session for 2 weeks) I will be attending mass as often as I can (now I can usually only go once a week) and have been looking for places to volunteer (there is only one of me, and I want to be where I can be of the best use). If I had not started the healing process, I would be very ill right now, and with how quickly I was self destructing, possibly dead. This is an extreme example, I know, but even with others, the mental and spiritual death can can occur as a result of holding onto the hatred is just as inwardly self-destructive.

Also, deliberately holding onto the hate is sinful, as it violates “You shall not murder”, and Jesus said that if any man looks at a woman with lust in their heart, it is a sure as if they were commiting adultery.

I do have my flashes of anger, and sometimes I will hold onto it for a few days. Those days consist of me slipping back into old self-destructive behaviors with the eating disorder, which is now mostly in remission again at this time, and after a few days of that, I feel the eating disorder “waking up” so to speak.

I pray that everyone who has been hurt in this way will find the peace they need to be able to forgive, or at least start on the process of healing. It does not mean forgetting, because it will always be a part of me. It is my cross I have to bear, and I will try to bear it patiently and with courage. I do fail miserably at times, but when I do manage to do a decent job of it, I can see how great God’s grace is to allow me to do that much. And it makes me want to worship Him even that much more.

God Bless!
Ericka