Forgive or Forget

September 12, 2007

The other day I was watching a TV show where two of the characters were talking. The first one said to the second, 'I forgive you,' and the first replied, 'Did I ask for your forgiveness?'

It hit me kind of funny. Do we have to get permission from a person before we forgive them. If they do not ask for it or receive it, has my forgiveness not happened.

As a Christian, I thought about the words of Jesus:

Mar 11:26 KJV
(26) But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

We are required to forgive others. If they do not know it or accept it, the forgiveness is still there.

This day after 9/11 we need to forgive those who have done wrong to our country. We are not to forget. Forgetting is not the same as forgiving. We must remember what we lost and not let it happen again. But we are to forgive those who would do us wrong, even if they do not ask for it.