I am very blessed that I have the time to get deeper into my faith. I consider it a gift to be able to do so. Even with my deeper faith, I am still reeling over the terrible shooting in Charleston South Carolina. As our pastor said in church this morning, “This was pure evil. However, evil will NOT win.” He then went on to read the very moving statements by the families of the shooting victims. They were all about forgiveness. Wow, what a powerful lesson. I don’t think I could be that forgiving is some animal shot down my loved ones. I could pray for them, but I’m not so sure about forgiveness.
In times of trouble like this, I turn to God. When I read my Bible this morning, this is the phrase that stood out for me:
In Matthew 6:14 Jesus shows us what forgiveness really is: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
What about you?
Forgiveness quote from Jesus Plus.org Bible Quotes.
Nancy Loderick's Blog 
Prateek Kohli
June 24, 2015
One who doesn’t forgive, never sleeps peacefully. The verse you shared here is beautiful. Though I feel for people like us, it is easier said than done. I agree with you that it might be very difficult for us to forgive someone who did wrong to us – even if the wrong doing is much smaller than shooting a loved one.
But at those times of grief and helplessness, we try to forgive to move on in life. Life is unfair and bad things happen when they are most unexpected. But these are the times when our faith and patience is tested.
My prayers to the victims of the gruesome incident.
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Nancy Loderick
June 24, 2015
Hi Prateek,
Thanks so much for your comment. You make some very good points. There is no point in dwelling in the past and what happened. We must move on.
Nancy
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Bea dM
June 24, 2015
The Old Testament is often ambivalent, as in “..an eye for an eye…”, which is a reflection of human nature and the difficulty of forgiving others for particularly inhumane actions. But forgiving is one of the basic tenets of spirituality. Buddhism philosophy tends to be more naturally conducive to forgiveness, as the belief in cause/effect leads to the logic of seeds having been planted in some past life/past energy/parallel existence or other conceptual explanation, that causes whatever harm befalls someone in this life. It follows that evil-doers will necessarily eventually get the effects of their actions – without any need for our intervention. In this wordview, vendettas can only perpetuate the vicious circle of evil.
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Nancy Loderick
June 24, 2015
Hi Bea,
Thank you for your comments. I love learning about different religions and philosophies. Christianity doesn’t have a lock on forgiveness, that’s for sure.
Evil is everywhere and it touches us all, no matter what our beliefs. Forgiveness can help transcend this.
Nancy
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sdalton43
June 24, 2015
In Mt 16:18, Jesus is quoted as saying: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.”
In Catholic circles (where I tend to travel), this is generally interpreted to mean that Peter himself is the “rock” on which the Church is built, hence the belief that Peter was the first Pope.
Many of my Protestant brothers and sisters might politely disagree. They would likely understand the “rock” to be Peter’s profession of faith (from two verses earlier). Thus, for them, the Church is founded on firm faith in Jesus as the expected Messiah.
I think of this just a bit differently. For two thousand years, one of the best known Gospel stories has been the tale of Peter’s denial of Jesus on the night of The Lord’s arrest. All four Gospels testify to this betrayal, but only Luke provides the detail that when the cock crowed after Peter’s third denial, Jesus turned to look at Peter, who then “went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:62). Through that terrible and traumatic experience of failure, Peter came to understand his own profound need for forgiveness. This, I believe, is the real rock of the Church. The Church was founded upon Peter’s need for forgiveness. The Church – and her individual members – can forgive only because she herself has desperately needed forgiveness from the start.
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Nancy Loderick
June 25, 2015
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I think we can all do with some forgiveness in our lives.
Nancy
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socialbridge
June 25, 2015
Nancy, I’m not into religion at all but have been very taken with the forgiving response of the community in Charleston. Hopefully it will bring solace to the families themselves and send a strong message about forgiveness and inclusively around the world.
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Nancy Loderick
June 25, 2015
Hi,
Yes, I was also very taken by the forgiving responses from the families and loved ones of the Charleston victims.
Nancy
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