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Thought for the Day: Forgiveness
Wednesday, April 13th, 2016 4:27pm
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Thought for the day:  In the same way that true repentance is more than simply saying, "I repent of" or "I turn away from" this sin or that sin, but also involves an actual physical turning away and total abandonment of that sin, true forgiveness requires this two part effort as well.  You can't just say "I forgive you" and leave it at that, even though that's an important step in the forgiving process.  To fully and properly forgive someone you must not only verbally forgive the other person, but you must also follow that up with a change in your actions towards them.  In a sense, forgiveness is a form of repentance.  But instead of it being your sin you are forsaking, you are instead forsaking their sin against you, be that real or merely perceived, the latter of which is the most common.

So if you remain angry with the person who has hurt you, then you have not forgiven them, and what you have done is nothing more than vainly express a handful of words that are worth little more than the air used to speak them.  So when you forgive someone, look to Christ's example of true forgiveness.  Namely, when you forgive, also be certain to completely forget what they have done to you.  Do not remember it in any way, shape or form, and if Satan brings it back to your memory, rebuke it and cast it away again and again until it stays gone.  Cast their offense, no matter what it is, or how much it hurt you, as far away from you as the east is from the west.

Christ did that with all of our sins, casting them as far away as the east is from the west, and deep, deep, deep into the sea of forgetfulness, thus making them as though they never happened.  As such we must do the same with the sins of others.  So don't just forgive, also forget completely and entirely, and then move forward as though what they did never happened.  Because until you are willing to do that, you have not truly forgiven them and you are thus unforgiving, having merely set aside their sin for a time, preserving it for a later moment in which to revisit it, or perhaps add to it should you so choose.

So no matter how hard it is, forgive.  Forgive as Christ forgave you, and let what was done against you be forgotten forever, never again to be remembered, no matter what.  And when you are able to do that then, and only then, will you have truly forgiven.

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