Quotes about Forgiving

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.

We should forgive our enemies, but not before they are hanged.

Because life didn't just come with better . . . it came with worse, too. A worse that God could have fixed, perhaps, if she'd let Him, so long ago. She hadn't wanted to take the risk of a broken heart. Of getting hurt over and over again. But wasn't that the nature of love? Risking betrayal? Forgiving? Wiping the slate clean and starting over? Wasn't that the nature of God?

If you are suffering from a bad man's injustice, forgive him lest there be two bad men.

Ignorance of ourselves is another reason for forgiving others. Unfortunately it is ourselves we know least; our neighbor's sins, weaknesses, and failures we know a thousand times better than our own. Criticism of others may be bad, but it is want of self-criticism which is worse.

Love, while always forgiving of imperfections and mistakes, can never cease to will their removal.

If you can see your mother as a fragile five-year-old girl, then you can forgive her very easily with compassion. The five-year-old girl who was your mother is always alive in her and in you.

Becoming fixated on something you can't now undo. That's what forgiveness and grace are for — a fresh start, a new beginning. God offers grace precisely for the reason that he wants to forgive us. He is eager to forgive us so we can start afresh and live a new meaningful life in service to him from this point on.

Jesus said the standard was seventy times seven. I read somewhere that Dietrich Bonhoeffer explained it this way: "As long as you are counting, you haven't forgiven once." In

This was not the time for his old doubts. He felt that he could forgive anything to anyone, because happiness was the greatest agent of purification. He felt certain that every living being wished him well tonight

Judgment is not the last word; it is never the last word. Judgment is necessary because of centuries of hardheartedness; its proper work is to open our hearts to the reality beyond ourselves, to crack the carapace of self-sufficiency so that we can experience the inrushing grace of the healing, merciful, forgiving God.

31Do not be bitter or angry or mad. Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others. Never do anything evil. 32Be kind and loving to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ.