Thursday, September 5, 2013
Forgiveness vs. Trust, or Are They the Same?
Some thoughts I had after class today. Do you think that trust is a sign you have forgiven someone and that trust and forgiveness are one in the same? Or do you think you can forgive someone without trusting them? I want to know what you think about this! Leave a comment below with your opinion.
Caitlin
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Thank you Caitlin for sharing. It is great for you to share your thoughts and cause others to think. Forgiveness (to me) is a very powerful thing to do....It opens up floodgates of good things coming into our lives. It has been proven that it promotes healing and peace into your life. It kinda frees that person you are forgiving to mature and do better. To me it is easier to forgive than to trust. How are they both alike? They both are godly and right. Our confidence is mostly in God, men will fail you, but God never fails. Trusting takes time, but people are imperfect, but love can cover a multitude of sins. Love never fails (that is the God kind of love like He has)....just thinking, See, you made me think......I love you!!! (your Meme)
ReplyDeleteHey, we have talking out our issues in common. YAY! Thank you so much for the invitation to comment on the forgiveness/trust issue. I see a definite connection, but they don’t both belong to the offender. As part of trusting God, we are able to forgive others. We forgive the one who hurt us and trust God to handle our recompense. We are instructed by Jesus to pray for those who despitefully use us. Our nature screams out for revenge or at least taking matters into our own hands. But the Word of the Lord concerning this is very clear. If we trust God to be our recompense and healer, then that trust is made manifest in the action of forgiving our offenders and praying God’s blessings in their lives. Furthermore, the scripture instructs us directly, that if we do not forgive others, He will not forgive us. Wow! Could this mean that if we don’t forgive others, it’s because we don’t trust God? Of course, He can’t take any action on our behalf if we don’t believe that He is able or that He will do so. In one place in the scripture the Lord asks if the person who is asking Him to perform a miracle on their behalf, “Do you believe I am able to do this?” On another occasion he tells someone, “According to your faith, be it unto you.” Both of these accounts are in the book of Matthew. Well, I think the connection is solidly made, don’t you?
ReplyDeleteI think your confusion is in attempting to attribute trust to the offender. Example: Someone tried to steal money from you. You found this out. You were in shock and you wanted to at least give them a piece of your mind, but you know God and what He requires of you. So you say to God that you forgive them. Then you pray for them. You will not be able to remain angry at anyone you sincerely pray for repeatedly. Now, do you really want to trust this person in the same way you did before the injustice occurred? Certainly not. Their weak character has just been revealed to you and building character takes time. You trust God in this process to mature that person in the manner of His choosing. Maybe later the Lord will reveal to you that full restoration of the relationship can occur, but until that time, you forgive them and limit your relationship with them. Personal lesson learned: It’s not a good idea to tell someone that you forgive them unless they confess their wrongdoing to you. Why? You are most likely asking for insult to injury because they may deny the wrongdoing altogether. Now you have to repent for your thoughts!.....LOL don’t go there unless they confess.
Some wrongs are far beyond what we able to forgive on our own. We only need to say to the Lord that we are willing to forgive, but it will only be done by His grace to and through us. We are not expected to perform the work, only believe that He can and will perform His will for us and through us.
You and your classmates may not be as far apart as it appears on this subject. In other words, maybe when you say you trust easily, you may mean that you trust what others say to be truth until they show that their words can’t be trusted. If you have never been deeply hurt, you may be inclined to see the subject of trust this way. And your classmates may understand the question on a much deeper level such as to trust others with their innermost thoughts and feelings. How the question is interpreted will determine how a person responds.
Wow! I’ve shared a lot. I hope it wasn’t too much.
Carol O
I think they are situational but are mainly viewed separately. If someone was to cheat on you in a relationship, and after some period of time you could forgive them as to not hold resentment towards them, but that does not necessarily mean that you would trust them in a relationship again.
ReplyDeletethis is a really interesting concept that i've never thought about before!
ReplyDeletethen that trust is made manifest in the action of forgiving our offenders and praying God’s blessings in their lives. Sales
ReplyDelete