If
we do not forgive those who hurt us, the only alternative is to retain the sins.
To retain means to hold, and to hold onto hurt is to lock ourselves into the
identity of victim. In the words of Lewis Smedes, "When you forgive yon set a
prisoner free. And then you discover that the prisoner was you." - M. Craig
Barnes
Forgiveness
is always free. But that doesn't mean that confession is always easy. Sometimes
it is hard. Incredibly hard. It is painful to admit our sins and entrust
ourselves to God's care. - Erwin Lutzer
God could, if I may say so, more easily have made a new world of innocent
creatures, and have governed them by the old covenant, than have established
this new one for the salvation of poor sinners; but then, where had been the
glory of forgiveness? - John Owen
But
however long you may have continued in rebellion, and how ever black and long
the catalog of your sins, yet if you will now turn to God by a sincere
repentance, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall not be cast out.
- Archibald Alexander
Forgiveness
to letting go of a bell rope. If you have ever seen a country church with a bell
in the steeple, you will remember that to get the bell ringing you have to tug
awhile. Once it has begun to ring, you merely maintain the momentum. As long as
you keep pulling, the bell keeps ringing. Forgiveness is letting go of the rope.
It is just that simple. But when you do so, the bell keeps ringing. Momentum is
still at work. However, if you keep your hands off the rope, the bell will begin
to slow and eventually stop. - Corrie Ten Boom
In
his book. Lee: The Last Years, Charles Bracelen Flood reports that after
the Civil War, Robert E. Lee visited a Kentucky lady who took him to the remains
of a grand old tree in front of her house. There she bitterly cried that its
limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Federal artillery fire. She looked to Lee
for a word condemning the North or at least sympathizing with her loss. After a
brief silence, Lee said, "Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it." It is
better to forgive the injustices of the past than to allow them to remain, let
bitterness take root and poison the rest of our life. - Michael Williams
To be a Christian means
to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. -
C. S. Lewis
If
we do not forgive those who hurt us, the only alternative is to retain the sins.
To retain means to hold, and to hold onto hurt is to lock ourselves into the
identity of victim. In the words of Lewis Smedes, "When you forgive yon set a
prisoner free. And then you discover that the prisoner was you." - M. Craig
Barnes
Forgiveness
is always free. But that doesn't mean that confession is always easy. Sometimes
it is hard. Incredibly hard. It is painful to admit our sins and entrust
ourselves to God's care. - Erwin Lutzer
God could, if I may say so, more easily have made a new world of innocent
creatures, and have governed them by the old covenant, than have established
this new one for the salvation of poor sinners; but then, where had been the
glory of forgiveness? - John Owen
But
however long you may have continued in rebellion, and how ever black and long
the catalog of your sins, yet if you will now turn to God by a sincere
repentance, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall not be cast out.
Forgiveness
to letting go of a bell rope. If you have ever seen a country church with a bell
in the steeple, you will remember that to get the bell ringing you have to tug
awhile. Once it has begun to ring, you merely maintain the momentum. As long as
you keep pulling, the bell keeps ringing. Forgiveness is letting go of the rope.
It is just that simple. But when you do so, the bell keeps ringing. Momentum is
still at work. However, if you keep your hands off the rope, the bell will begin
to slow and eventually stop. - Corrie Ten Boom
In
his book. Lee: The Last Years, Charles Bracelen Flood reports that after
the Civil War, Robert E. Lee visited a Kentucky lady who took him to the remains
of a grand old tree in front of her house. There she bitterly cried that its
limbs and trunk had been destroyed by Federal artillery fire. She looked to Lee
for a word condemning the North or at least sympathizing with her loss. After a
brief silence, Lee said, "Cut it down, my dear Madam, and forget it." It is
better to forgive the injustices of the past than to allow them to remain, let
bitterness take root and poison the rest of our life. - Michael Williams
To be a Christian means
to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. -
C. S. Lewis