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Old 07-30-2017, 08:34 PM   #2
Sanders
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First of all, Jesus tells us, "There is none righteous, no, not one."

So, you aren't getting into Heaven on your good works. That said, Jesus forgives what we've done if we ask Him and try to go and sin no more - as he told the prostitute he forgave.

He expects us to try, at least. He doesn't give us a free pass to do whatever we want for as long as we want and expect him to forgive us each and every time.

Anyway, your question(s) are the subject of many a sermon, and many books.

I am no perfect Christian, so my advice may be dismissed or taken to heart. If I'm wrong, I'm sure folks will correct me.

To me, the act of forgiveness is not so much to say what someone did to you is all right. To me, it is to quit allowing them to live in your head rent free over what they did to you. If you dwell on how you were wronged all the time, you grow to hate that person. We are told not to hate - hate hurts your heart and spirit. You aren't doing anything to them, but you are hurting your own well-being by not allowing yourself any peace.

So, how do I forgive someone? I can forgive, but it doesn't mean I have to forget. It doesn't mean I have to trust that person again, as if nothing ever happened. I can even love them, but that doesn't mean I have to like them nor trust them.

So, for me it comes down to apathy. I just don't care about the person who screwed me over. I don't let them live rent free in my head, at all. I just don't care about them, whether they live, die, have good luck or bad. They no longer matter to me in the least. Right or wrong? I don't know, but it put my heart at peace.
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"The truly dangerous man dresses inconspicuously and is soft- spoken. He walks away from most confrontations. The only time you learn that the truly dangerous man is mad at you is a split second before you die, for he never fights. He only kills. The truly dangerous man knows that fighting is what children do and killing is what men do." - Charley Reese 1986
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