In turns of forgiveness, if all people allude to a fellow believer and the unbeliever, yes, we ought to forgive all people. Knowing we are now what we are as Christians by God’s love toward us for the forgiveness of sin, through Jesus Christ. Therefore, we forgive others, lest we be hypocrites, living the Christian Life, which is rooted in God’s forgiveness toward us, yet we withhold forgiveness toward others.
"If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done.
(Matthew 6:14-15)
However, there is a difference between forgiving a fellow believer and forgiving an unbeliever.
When you as a believer forgive an unbeliever, you are not obligated to have a friendship or relationship with them. This also applies to a degree to a believer as well. If you forgive another believer, thereafter, the believer turns back and do the same thing repeatedly over and over as you forgive them. Do not hold any animosity toward them, but it is in your best interest to stay away from them.
The question derives from an assembly where a sister was told she must forgive certain person who did something to her in the past. And it was her Christian duty to make things right with the person.
@tracy87b One has to be careful in telling a person who was hurt that it is their obligation to make things right. Forgiveness is the first step, but the victim should not be told to go back and make things right with the one who cause them the harm. It wasn't their fault to begin with. What if the person who causes the hurt in that lady's life hasn’t changed? If the lady goes back in hope to make things right, the individual to whom she returned could cause another hurt to her. The reason we forgive is not to be a friend again with the person who once harmed us, but when a person forgives, they in essence take off the weight of the pain, the sorrow and hate that arise within them whenever they think of what happened to them.
When we forgive someone who brought harm to us, we say, Lord, I was hurt, I am still hurt emotionally and mentally. These feelings that I feel, I cannot overcome them, neither can I fully understand why it was done to me, or someone that I love. So, Lord, I turn it over to you. Through this, we take our mind off the one who caused the harm to us by putting our focus on the Lord. Remember, vengeance is mine says the Lord. As the result when we forgive someone of the wrong they did to us, we are no longer a victim, but victorious by taking the higher ground. The perpetrator is no longer the focus of our thoughts constantly, but now we start to see the good things in our lives for we are now looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Gratification will be the result because we did the right thing, though it was difficult. As time goes by, where there was once the void of hate or sorrow, it will be filled with love, but we cannot obtain love when we hold on to hate, unforgiveness is hate.
Thank you
In turns of forgiveness, if all people allude to a fellow believer and the unbeliever, yes, we ought to forgive all people. Knowing we are now what we are as Christians by God’s love toward us for the forgiveness of sin, through Jesus Christ. Therefore, we forgive others, lest we be hypocrites, living the Christian Life, which is rooted in God’s forgiveness toward us, yet we withhold forgiveness toward others.
"If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done.
(Matthew 6:14-15)
However, there is a difference between forgiving a fellow believer and forgiving an unbeliever.
When you as a believer forgive an unbeliever, you are not obligated to have a friendship or relationship with them. This also applies to a degree to a believer as well. If you forgive another believer, thereafter, the believer turns back and do the same thing repeatedly over and over as you forgive them. Do not hold any animosity toward them, but it is in your best interest to stay away from them.