Examine Yourselves: Forgiveness or the Repercussions of Unforgiveness

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by OBW

Actually, forgiveness does not let them off the hook. It actually releases the one doing the forgiving from the residuals of anger and even hatred that can fester. Forgiveness is, among other things, the willingness to give the right to punish back to God.

And forgiveness, despite Lee's stories about forgetting, is not forgetting. It is to release the anger and the hurt. But it does not mean that you have to just let them do it all over again. Someone who has continually hurt you should be forgiven. But you do not have the obligation to let them near enough to you to do it again. It is a tricky thing. And not simple. We often talk about it like it is simple. But to forgive yet put barriers between us may be just exactly what is required.

My name is Ohio, and I approve this message.