We should forgive

[Andrew]

God tells us we should forgive our trespassers, does this mean that we should tell them personally that we forgive them or does it mean that we should forgive them in our heart and keep it only between yourself and God?

 

[Arsenios]

God tells us we should forgive our trespassers,
does this mean that we should tell them personally
that we forgive them
or
does it mean that we should forgive them in our heart
and keep it only between yourself and God?

We should never judge them for their trespasses in the first place...
We should thank them in our hearts for their trespasses...
We should beg their forgiveness for our offenses...

The whole idea of walking up to someone who has wronged you and saying:
"You have wronged me and I forgive you" is kind of arrogant and self-serving...
Better to judge ourselves and thank God for our persecutors...
Forgiving is not an option, but a Holy Command...

You see, an offense is but one small matter, when we live in ongoing wholesale and blatant disregard for God...
Christ forgave the great debtor until he did not forgive the small debtor to him...
When God forgives all to us at Baptism, how can we not forgive our neighbor his transgressions?


Arsenios

 

[Lamb]

God tells us we should forgive our trespassers, does this mean that we should tell them personally that we forgive them or does it mean that we should forgive them in our heart and keep it only between yourself and God?

There is a biblical process concerning a neighbor who has offended you.

Forgiveness doesn't have to be earned and is a gift...just like the forgiveness that Jesus earned at the cross for us, we don't have to earn it, it's a gift! So you can forgive your neighbor without having your neighbor earn it or even know about it.

Forgiving someone doesn't mean you have to walk up to him and telling him you forgive him. It means you're willing to reconcile with him and you use that biblical process that is listed in Matthew 18. If reconciliation doesn't happen after that process, that doesn't mean you haven't forgiven him or tried to work it out.

Forgiveness isn't always given by us to others through words but through how we treat them. Married couples know this all too well. After a fight sometimes a simple gesture can show forgiveness.

 

[Wilhemena]

Mark 11:25 ESV
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Luke 17:3-4 ESV
Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.