I just read another sappy story all thrilled about forgiving gross sins whilst the sinner still strutted and puffed about, not the least concerned about hurting another person.

The story makes the forgiver sound all noble, but forgiving unrepented sin goes against God. You never read about it in the Bible. How noble is it to spit in God’s eye?

Rather than repeat myself on the subject, here’s an excerpt from my book, How to be a Christian Without Being Annoying

“When we get hurt, we’re told to ‘forgive and forget.’ No matter who, no matter what, forgive and forget. Sounds noble, even righteous. Take the high road. Don’t be judgmental.

Wrong.

First, forgetting is silly. Living and learning are based on remembering.

Forgiving is the struggle. Let’s look at God’s example.

Whenever sinners repent, God forgives, willingly and gladly. But God never forgives unrepented sin. He paid far too high a price to be casual about sin.

God’s standard is our standard. We forgive repented sins against us fully and freely, but we don’t reward unrepented sin by forgiving it. We can’t hand out forgiveness willy-nilly. As we’re accountable for our actions, we have to allow others to be accountable for theirs.

But what do we do when those who wound us never accept responsibility for their actions, never ask our forgiveness? Holding onto hurt destroys us. Making pain a trophy kills life. Seeking revenge eats us alive. What do we do with our anger, our pain, our confusion?

We give it to God and let it go. He knows the hearts of those who hurt us, so he knows whether to forgive them or not.

Then we let God heal our pain and give us wisdom to deal with the consequences of what happened. We trust God to bring good from it.

We move on from our suffering and let the hurters work it out with God, who is not amused that they wounded his child.”

Scripture, with explanatory notes, supports each brief article in the book (lest you think I’m made this stuff up).

“If another believer sins, rebuke him; then if he repents, forgive him. Even if he wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, forgive him.”
• The gospel written by Luke, chapter 17, verses 3 and 4 (Luke 17:3-4)
• New Living Translation (NLT)
• The words of Jesus, teaching his disciples. Luke, who worked with Paul, also wrote the book of Acts which recounts the days of the early church

“He [Jesus] never sinned, and he never deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted. When he suffered, he did not threaten to get even. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.”
• First Peter, chapter 2, verses 22 and 23 (I Pet. 2:22-23)
• New Living Translation (NLT)
• Peter’s first letter to the church at large. Peter was the leader of Jesus’ closest group of 12 disciples and, along with Paul, the leader of the new church.

To sum it up then, we don’t try to get even, and we don’t forgive without repentance. We get on with life. Yes, we cooperate with legitimate efforts to require accountability, but we don’t focus on the problem. God’s on the case.

Did you know the saying “What goes around comes around” is based on the Bible?

Bette Dowdell writes and speaks about two things: Maximizing Life and Maximizing Health. Check her out at http://BetteDowdell.com