Forgiveness

"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."


- Oscar Wilde

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"You will find that it is necessary to let things go;

simply for the reason that they are heavy.

So let them go, let go of them. I tie no weights to my ankles."

- C. JoyBell C.

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"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous of you. Be happy anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

- Mother Teresa

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"Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until he has something to forgive."

- C.S. Lewis

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"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do.

But it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving."

- Dale Carnegie

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"Forgiving is not forgetting; it's actually remembering--remembering and not using your right to hit back. It's a second chance for a new beginning. And the remembering part is particularly important. Especially if you dont want to repeat what happened."

- Desmond Tutu

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"Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart."


- Corrie ten Boom

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"Even as the angry vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them.

Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more?



'Lord Jesus,' I prayed, 'forgive me and help me to forgive him.... Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness....'


And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives along with the command, the love itself."




-Corrie ten Boom (on forgiving a former Nazi who killed her family)

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"Forgiveness is unlocking the door to set someone free and realising you were the prisoner!"

- Max Lucado

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"Forgiveness is not about forgetting. It is about letting go of another person's throat...... 

Forgiveness does not create a relationship. Unless people speak the truth about what they have done and change their mind and behavior, a relationship of trust is not possible. When you forgive someone you certainly release them from judgment, but without true change, no real relationship can be established.........



Forgiveness in no way requires that you trust the one you forgive. But should they finally confess and repent, you will discover a miracle in your own heart that allows you to reach out and begin to build between you a bridge of reconciliation.........


Forgiveness does not excuse anything.........You may have to declare your forgiveness a hundred times the first day and the second day, but the third day will be less and each day after, until one day you will realize that you have forgiven completely. And then one day you will pray for his wholeness......"



- W. Paul Young

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"I believe like a child that suffering will be healed and made up for, that all the humiliating absurdity of human contradictions will vanish like a pitiful mirage, like the despicable fabrication of the impotent and infinitely small Euclidean mind of man, that in the world's finale, at the moment of eternal harmony, something so precious will come to pass that it will suffice for all hearts, for the comforting of all resentments, for the atonement of all the crimes of humanity, for all the blood that they've shed; that it will make it not only possible to forgive but to justify all that has happened."

-Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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"It takes quite a spine to turn the other cheek. It takes phenomenal fortitude to love your enemy. It takes firm resolve to pray for those who persecute you."

(in reference to Matthew 5)

- Rob Bell

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"Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hatred. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness."

- Corrie ten Boom

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"Unforgiveness is like drinking deadly poison and then expecting another person to die."

"Do yourself a favor and forgive anyone that has anything against you.

Do it as an act of faith and trust God to change and heal your emotions. Pray for your enemies and never say another unkind thing about them. It is the only way you can move past the pain and begin to heal."

- Joyce Meyer

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"Forgiveness breaks the chain of causality because he who 'forgives' you--out of love--takes upon himself the consequences of what you have done. Forgiveness, therefore, always entails a sacrifice.

The price you must pay for your own liberation through another's sacrifice is that you in turn must be willing to liberate in the same way, irrespective of the consequences to yourself."

- Dag Hammarskjöld (Markings)

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"I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves.

Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him."

- C.S. Lewis

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"Watch out for each other. Love everyone and forgive everyone, including yourself. Forgive your anger. Forgive your guilt. Your shame. Your sadness. Embrace and open up your love, your joy, your truth, and most especially your heart."


-Jim Henson

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"Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, cause hate in your heart will consume you too."

- Will Smith