Hi Tim,
Thanks for your thoughts: please note that religious discussion should be confined to private clubs such as Open Discussion, as our experience is that they lead to arguments and insults in the public forums. I am therefore going to lock this thread.
Thanks,
David, moderator
hi, tim here to speak with you about forgiveness. i recently made a new friend and somehow offended them. i seem remarkably good at doing this but i must say i do not enjoy offending or hurting people, and when i do i try to make it right. i know how hard it is to listen to someone who has hurt or offended you explain why it happened, and sometimes you have to tell them the truth; that you really don't care why, you just want them to leave you alone. here's the problem ; you don't give them a chance, they can't apologize and seek your forgiveness, and you don't have any chance at all for resolution . i'm 60 now, made lots of mistakes and hurt lots of people , and i've learned that you suffer when you carry that guilt. it can eat you up inside, and when you don't allow others to discuss how they offended or hurt you, you withhold their chance of resolving their mistake and allowing them to improve their character and become what God intended them to be. yes, you say it doesn't bother you, they deserve what they got, and that may be true, but do you really want to be like that? you become that thing or person that offended you, and two wrongs don't ever make a right. please stop and think about what you do ; it affects others as well as you. we are created in God's image ; let's try to remember that. how many times has God forgiven you? i can honestly say i can't remember anymore, it's happened so many times , but as i get older i know my time here is short so i try to keep a short list of things i have to fix with others because i know i'm going to account for all that i have done, as well as what i chose not to do. i don't know about you , but i do enough things wrong every day that i need to deal with that i can't afford to keep carrying the ones from the past. so here's the deal; i know i offended you and i honestly don't know how or what it was but i am sorry and i hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. sincerely, tim