Quotes About Forgiveness

Love covers all kinds of offenses, hurts, annoyances, disappointments, and sins that we all suffer because of others. Only love has the power to freely and repeatedly forgive, to truly seek to understand people's weaknesses and complexities, to put things into proper perspective, and to put a blanket over other people's faults.

In his remarkably penetrating booklet, The Mark of the Christian, Francis Schaeffer reminds us that the real issue to be dealt with in most of our conflicts is not the issue at hand but our lack of Christlike love toward our fellow Christians:

I thought you were gone forever, I thought you'd walked away from everything, because I failed, because I destroyed the only thing that ever mattered to me. I waited for you to come, but you didn't.

Life is so fragile that any parting can be eternal. We can never be sure that we will still have an opportunity to ask for forgiveness and be forgiven.

Surely until all of us own and honor one another's dead, until we have admitted to our murders and forgiven one another and ourselves for what we have done, there can be no truce, no dignity and no peace.

It's a long day's drive any way you look at it. With a man who has taken your sins - real and imagined - and stitched them onto the sackcloth of his own soul, it is endless.

Accept I can't change the past. I can only concentrate on the now and hope for the future.

It eased the pain some when she thought about the way he'd treated her and hatred burned away the hurt.

I don't understand," she admitted at last. "You were trying to kill each other fifteen years ago, and you're friends now. Don't you even argue about the North and the South and who was right?" "Johnny Reb" laughed. "What's it to a soldier the right and the wrong of it all? He's there for the fighting, that's what he likes. Doesn't matter who you're fighting, long as he gives you a good fight.

We must make sure we confess our own sin and shortcomings before approaching our adversary with his.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 NIV

Remember Matthew 5:25 ("Make friends quickly with your opponent") and Matthew 5:44 ("Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you").

Love your enemies. Pray for those who treat you badly (Luke 6:27–28).

Be kind and tenderhearted to one another (Eph. 4:32).

Be quick to forgive (Matt. 18:21–35).

A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, and contentions are like the bars of a castle" (Prov. 18:19 NKJV).

I realise myself that hate wastes a lot of time and energy, and I would rather re-direct any energy that I have to good and positive use.

I don't believe in being vengeful or trying to send a message to someone. You waste your energy that way.

So many amongst us live in the past rather than loving the present and building a brilliant future. Some people stay stuck for years over something they did or a failure they've experienced. Sad. A life is a terrible thing to waste.

If I've been working a lot and I've been away from my kids, then I don't go to the gym. It's okay to miss a day. I tell myself not to feel bad about it, too, because then it's a waste if you choose not to do something and feel bad.

People say that forgiving is my flaw, but I really believe that holding grudges and anger is a waste of energy.

Don't live in the past. There's no point. You can't change anything. What a waste of time.

I don't wish anybody ill, I really don't. I've got a lot of faults, but I was never jealous or envious or... it's a waste of time.

At least in my life, I cannot hold onto grudges. It's a waste of energy, a waste of time.