This week I learned that...
...God is in control, no matter what and under every circumstance. I learned the value of Romans 8:28 this week and also the truth to what Joseph said (a loose paraphrase) to his brothers "What you meant for evil, God meant for good." I meant to be spiteful in sending that email over the weekened to a guy (not the guy I'm talking to). I don't regret sending the email but the motive was spiteful. God apparently had other plans.
... Unconditional forgiveness, though very difficult, is completely and entirely humbling. Never mind that is is amazingly FREE. We will never be God and cast out the memory of the misdeeds, but we are called to forgive as Christ forgave us. Unconditional forgiveness means... you should never use past misdeeds against the other again.
... that you CAN pick up where you left off with someone who hurt you after you clear the air and clarify things. But choose the words carefully. PRAY before you start the forgiveness process or it will not work.
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2 comments:
I agree with everything you posted here. But let me ask a hypothetical question:
If a woman was raped by a man and he asked her to forgive him and desires a "friendship" with her, how should she respond?
I think it's fine that she say yes to forgiving him...but no to a friendship.
The reason I bring this up is because we have had to do just that with a relative who has broken our trust (and hearts) too many times to where we have forgiven them but desire no relationship with them.
Your thoughts?
The two instances are different.
In one, a man has physically and emotionally harmed a woman. The rapist should not be allowed to be near the woman alone ever. Period. It would be like me being friends with the Marriott guy. That just wont ever happen.
The other, and in my case, was just the case of a man being stupid and thinking life is a fairytale where you can live happily ever after. There's no reason to not want to continue a friendship with someone like that, there's just a lot of immaturity in their life.
However, also in my case, after catching him in a small lie and calling him on his bluff, he walked away again. I will forgive him if he asks me, but this time I will be wise and not pursue a friendship unless it's in a group setting like at Calvary or whatever. I guess that is no different than your situation with the relative.
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