Forgiveness 101 - Time No Longer2024-03-28T10:48:12Zhttp://timenolonger.ning.com/forum/topics/forgiveness-101?commentId=5124148%3AComment%3A3128&feed=yes&xn_auth=no"We should never be content t…tag:timenolonger.ning.com,2015-03-09:5124148:Comment:403372015-03-09T13:47:47.706ZBettyhttp://timenolonger.ning.com/xn/detail/u_0jr9mfbedhc8k
<p><b>"We should never be content that a relationship is estranged."</b><br></br><br></br><span>I agree...and it can be difficult to pursue one to try to repair it, whether we've been on the receiving end of some wrong or have done it, but particularly where fellow believers are concerned, we should never be simply "ok" with a relationship that is broken if there is anything we can yet do to help it. These are, after all, the people we'll be spending eternity with...</span></p>
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<p><span>agreed.…</span></p>
<p><b>"We should never be content that a relationship is estranged."</b><br/><br/><span>I agree...and it can be difficult to pursue one to try to repair it, whether we've been on the receiving end of some wrong or have done it, but particularly where fellow believers are concerned, we should never be simply "ok" with a relationship that is broken if there is anything we can yet do to help it. These are, after all, the people we'll be spending eternity with...</span></p>
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<p><span>agreed. agreed.agreed.</span></p> tag:timenolonger.ning.com,2015-03-07:5124148:Comment:403342015-03-07T17:23:42.697ZBeanhttp://timenolonger.ning.com/profile/BornAgainNerd
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</p> Wonderful testimony of the re…tag:timenolonger.ning.com,2012-06-03:5124148:Comment:206542012-06-03T20:47:05.754ZProdigal Sonhttp://timenolonger.ning.com/profile/ProdigalSon
<p>Wonderful testimony of the redemption of a life.</p>
<p>Wonderful testimony of the redemption of a life.</p> Kim Phuc, "the Vietnam napalm…tag:timenolonger.ning.com,2012-06-03:5124148:Comment:204852012-06-03T15:07:47.466ZBeanhttp://timenolonger.ning.com/profile/BornAgainNerd
<p>Kim Phuc, "the Vietnam napalm girl" grew up to accept Messiah as her savior..</p>
<p><a href="http://www.prx.org/pieces/27977-this-i-believe-kim-phuc" target="_blank">http://www.prx.org/pieces/27977-this-i-believe-kim-phuc</a></p>
<p>"One of the best-known photographs of the Vietnam War shows a group of children running down a road after napalm was dropped on their village. Among the children is a naked little girl -- her arms spread apart, badly burned, her face full of terror. Our This I…</p>
<p>Kim Phuc, "the Vietnam napalm girl" grew up to accept Messiah as her savior..</p>
<p><a href="http://www.prx.org/pieces/27977-this-i-believe-kim-phuc" target="_blank">http://www.prx.org/pieces/27977-this-i-believe-kim-phuc</a></p>
<p>"One of the best-known photographs of the Vietnam War shows a group of children running down a road after napalm was dropped on their village. Among the children is a naked little girl -- her arms spread apart, badly burned, her face full of terror. Our This I Believe essay today comes from the main subject of that photo, Kim Phuc -- that little girl, now grown and living in Toronto, Canada, with her family. Kim Phuc came to her belief literally by accident -- and although it took a long time for her to find it, she has been sustained by it ever since. Here's Kim Phuc with her essay for This I Believe.</p>
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<p><em>"PHUC: On June 8, 1972, I run out from Cao Dai temple in my village, Trang Bang, South Vietnam, I saw an airplane getting lower and then four bombs falling down. I saw fire everywhere around me. Then I saw the fire over my body, especially on my left arm. My clothes had been burned off by fire. I was 9-years old but I still remember my thoughts at that moment: I would be ugly and people would treat me in a different way.</em></p>
<p><em>"My picture was taken in that moment on Road number 1 from Saigon to Phnom Penh. After a soldier gave me some drink and poured water over my body, I lost my consciousness. Several days after, I realized that I was in the hospital, where I spent 14 months and had 17 operations. It was a very difficult time for me when I went home from the hospital. Our house was destroyed, we lost everything and we just survived day-by-day. Although I suffered from pain, itching and headaches all the time, the long hospital stay made me dream to become a doctor. But my studies were cut short by the local government. They wanted me as a symbol of the state. I could not go to school any more. The anger inside me was like a hatred as high as a mountain. I hated my life. I hated all people who were normal because I was not normal. I really wanted to die many times.</em></p>
<p><em>"I spent my daytime in the library to read a lot of religious books to find a purpose for my life. One of the books that I read was the Holy Bible. In Christmas 1982, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior. It was an amazing turning point in my life. God helped me to learn to forgive-the most difficult of all lessons. It didn't happen in a day and it wasn't easy. But I finally got it. Forgiveness made me free from hatred. I still have many scars on my body and severe pain most days but my heart is cleansed. Napalm is very powerful but faith, forgiveness and love are much more powerful. We would not have war at all if everyone could learn how to live with true love, hope and forgiveness.</em> <br/><br/>"If that little girl in the picture can do it, ask yourself: Can you?"</p>
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<p></p> Cyprium said:"The command to…tag:timenolonger.ning.com,2010-10-09:5124148:Comment:32742010-10-09T20:06:12.000ZBeanhttp://timenolonger.ning.com/profile/BornAgainNerd
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<cite>Cyprium said:</cite><blockquote cite="http://timenolonger.ning.com/forum/topics/forgiveness-101#5124148Comment3176"><div><b>"The command to forgive is a command to make a decision and act on it...it is not a command to tame our own wild emotions until we feel only good things towards our offenders."</b><br></br> <br></br></div>
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this is probably my favorite statement from this article.. knowing that we can just choose to forgive instead of waiting for or trying to force…
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<cite>Cyprium said:</cite><blockquote cite="http://timenolonger.ning.com/forum/topics/forgiveness-101#5124148Comment3176"><div><b>"The command to forgive is a command to make a decision and act on it...it is not a command to tame our own wild emotions until we feel only good things towards our offenders."</b><br/> <br/></div>
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this is probably my favorite statement from this article.. knowing that we can just choose to forgive instead of waiting for or trying to force certain 'feelings' on ourselves is one of the most liberating aspects of the reality of being a believer on Yahushua.. liberty is a big word to many these days but i have found that some of the greatest freedoms exist in making choices to do things like love, trust and forgive.. all without the burden of needing to 'feel something'.<br/>
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about a year after accepting Yahushua as my Savior, i received one of the best pieces of advice i've ever heard: "Faith is not a 'feeling', Faith is a choice"<br/>
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it's so good to know and grow in the knowledge that as believers who have been set free from the bonds of sin, that we are also liberated from the snares of worldly societal expectations including the demand of incongruous emotional prerequisites for what should be common sense behavior.<br/>
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"feelings" could possibly be the leading cause of suicide in this world where inhabitants are programmed to accept that an emotion is what causes a thought, and not the other way around.. when the truth is that it is our thoughts which cause our emotions.<br />
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awesome article. "We should never be content t…tag:timenolonger.ning.com,2010-09-30:5124148:Comment:31762010-09-30T22:57:02.000ZCypriumhttp://timenolonger.ning.com/profile/Cyprium
<b>"We should never be content that a relationship is estranged."</b><br />
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I agree...and it can be difficult to pursue one to try to repair it, whether we've been on the receiving end of some wrong or have done it, but particularly where fellow believers are concerned, we should never be simply "ok" with a relationship that is broken if there is anything we can yet do to help it. These are, after all, the people we'll be spending eternity with...
<b>"We should never be content that a relationship is estranged."</b><br />
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I agree...and it can be difficult to pursue one to try to repair it, whether we've been on the receiving end of some wrong or have done it, but particularly where fellow believers are concerned, we should never be simply "ok" with a relationship that is broken if there is anything we can yet do to help it. These are, after all, the people we'll be spending eternity with... <<Where it becomes frau…tag:timenolonger.ning.com,2010-09-29:5124148:Comment:31502010-09-29T16:50:41.000ZDeborahhttp://timenolonger.ning.com/profile/Deborah
<<Where it becomes fraught with difficult emotion is when we must do the forgiving.>><br />
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The flip side of this is being able to recognize when you have wronged another, knowing when it is appropriate to seek forgiveness for your own rude or offensive behaviour. Following the world's standards, we have become lax in knowing what constitutes proper and improper behaviour. Believers are as prone as unbelievers to throw darts - jabs and insults, "jests" and "joking" - which are often very…
<<Where it becomes fraught with difficult emotion is when we must do the forgiving.>><br />
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The flip side of this is being able to recognize when you have wronged another, knowing when it is appropriate to seek forgiveness for your own rude or offensive behaviour. Following the world's standards, we have become lax in knowing what constitutes proper and improper behaviour. Believers are as prone as unbelievers to throw darts - jabs and insults, "jests" and "joking" - which are often very hurtful. And many Christians, believing it is wrong to point out the faults of another Christian, believe they must endure this humiliation in silence.<br />
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I questioned a church elder once about such behaviour, wanting to know if scripture had anything to say about this. It does: Proverbs 26:18-19, As a madman casts firebrands, arrows, and death, so is the man that deceives his neighbour, and says, Am I not in sport?"<br />
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The Bible says people who act that way are "as a madman" and that even joking and jesting are forms of deception. Many times they are because even the speaker knows the words are not true. However, sometimes we resort to throwing darts which do contain truth, but not as a way of humbly correcting or to encourage different behaviour, but as a very deliberate means to hurt even to the point of murdering one's character. A lot of bad behaviour is passed under the guise of "sport". And few ever consider this offensive behaviour which may require forgiveness.<br />
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Or, as you mention, those who refuse second chances. Painful, long term decisions are made by outsiders who refuse to believe that people/relationships may and will change. An estranged relationship today, given enough time, may become healed and restored. Until both souls are dead, the door to forgiveness and reconciliation should not be closed. Believers are always remiss if they fail to act on this truth whether in their own life or another's. We should never be content that a relationship is estranged.<br />
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Even with the death of one, while the relationship is now beyond restoring, there can still be forgiveness. Thank you, and you're welcome…tag:timenolonger.ning.com,2010-09-28:5124148:Comment:31382010-09-28T21:03:39.000ZCypriumhttp://timenolonger.ning.com/profile/Cyprium
Thank you, and you're welcome Deborah..i'm glad if it was useful. :)
Thank you, and you're welcome Deborah..i'm glad if it was useful. :) Excellent, and timely. Thank…tag:timenolonger.ning.com,2010-09-27:5124148:Comment:31282010-09-27T17:56:05.000ZDeborahhttp://timenolonger.ning.com/profile/Deborah
Excellent, and timely. Thank you.
Excellent, and timely. Thank you.