Comments on: Forgiveness Doesn’t Clean Up the Mess http://necessaryroughness.org/archives/1554 two kingdoms, hundreds of thousands of miles Sun, 07 Sep 2008 06:37:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Anastasia Theodoridis http://necessaryroughness.org/archives/1554#comment-14868 Anastasia Theodoridis Fri, 04 Apr 2008 14:55:03 +0000 http://necessaryroughness.org/archives/1554#comment-14868 People confuse forgiveness with toleration. Forgiveness doesn't just mean all your misdeeds are now, suddenly okay! No. It means I will not require you to be punished. You still have to do right. If you are my child and I forgive you for not having picked up your toys, it means I still love you the same as ever and I will not spank you or send you to sit in the corner or dock your allowance. But you do still have to pick up those toys! Forgiveness does not mean it's okay to leave them all over the floor. Zacchaeus escaped punishment. But he also gave half his money to the poor, and restored everything he had stolen, four times over. Forgiveness, in the case of the son who made bad decisions re drugs, money, jail, etc., just means the parents love him as much as ever, and treat him with as much compassion and kindness, and nothing will prevent that. It doesn't mean pretending it didn't happen. It doesn't mean pretending what happened is okay when it isn't. In fact, if they love the son, they inescapably hate what he has done, mainly because of how destructive it has been for HIM! Remembering how much we ourselves stand in need of forgiveness often makes it easier to forgive others. Anastasia People confuse forgiveness with toleration. Forgiveness doesn’t just mean all your misdeeds are now, suddenly okay! No. It means I will not require you to be punished. You still have to do right.

If you are my child and I forgive you for not having picked up your toys, it means I still love you the same as ever and I will not spank you or send you to sit in the corner or dock your allowance. But you do still have to pick up those toys! Forgiveness does not mean it’s okay to leave them all over the floor.

Zacchaeus escaped punishment. But he also gave half his money to the poor, and restored everything he had stolen, four times over.

Forgiveness, in the case of the son who made bad decisions re drugs, money, jail, etc., just means the parents love him as much as ever, and treat him with as much compassion and kindness, and nothing will prevent that. It doesn’t mean pretending it didn’t happen. It doesn’t mean pretending what happened is okay when it isn’t. In fact, if they love the son, they inescapably hate what he has done, mainly because of how destructive it has been for HIM!

Remembering how much we ourselves stand in need of forgiveness often makes it easier to forgive others.

Anastasia

]]>