FORGIVENESS

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“But Jesus was saying: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”” – Jesus Christ– Luke 23:34 – Luke – The HOLY SCRIPTURES – The epitome of forgiveness, Jesus forgiving his executioners shortly before his death.

Forgiveness is love practiced among people who love poorly.  It sets us free without wanting anything in return. – Henry Nouwen

“Forgive me for everything I’ve done wrong.  I don’t have time to go through it because I am GOING to die.” – Lori Lightner – on Flight 1549 right before crashing into the Hudson River

Without forgiveness there is no future. – Desmond Tutu

He who can’t forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass. – George Herbert

When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel.  Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.  – Catherine Ponder

Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it’s a permanent attitude. – Martin Luther King

“The wolves became lambs.  Such transformations occur in last agonies of life.  However different and imperfect the various sketches of religion are, even when belief is shapeless—there is a trembling of the soul.” – Victor Hugo – THE MAN WHO LAUGHS

The greatest griefs are the ones we cause ourselves. – Sophocles

If we only have the will to walk, then God is pleased with our stumbles. – C. S. Lewis

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends with them? – Abraham Lincoln

To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it. – Confucius

Don’t take guilt trips.  Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is. – George Carlin

Smoking means always having to say you’re sorry. – Somebody important

It is far easier to forgive an enemy after you have gotten even with them. – Olin Miller            

Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. – Garth Brooks

Beside the act of saving someone’s life, the greatest act in the human experience could be the personal sacrifice we make when we forgive someone. – Gary Pulliam

I’ve learned that when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you. – Andy Rooney                                              

Don’t accept your dog’s admiration that you are wonderful. – Ann Landers

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“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Jesus Christ (Sermon on the Mount) – Matt. 6:14 – Apostle Matthew – The BIBLE

People seldom do what they believe in.  They do what is convenient—then repent. – Bob Dylan

Always forgive your enemies—nothing annoys them so much. – Oscar Wilde

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy is when men are afraid of the light. – Socrates

“It’s never too late to say I’m sorry.” – Laura – (age 10)

The further behind I leave the past, the closer I am to forging my own character. – Isabella Eberhardt

“Help me to do good, be good and stay good.”– My son Toby’s goodnight prayer at 4 years old

The pain passes, but the beauty remains. – Pierre August Renoir

“It’s a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done.  It’s a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.” – Charles Darney facing execution by guillotine at the conclusion of A TALE OF TWO CITIES – Charles Dickens

I’ve learned that being kind is more important than being right. – Andy Rooney

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again. – Maya Angelou

Most people want to be delivered from temptation, but would like to keep in touch. – Robert Orien

Every man is quilty of all the good he did not do. – Voltaire

When two friends get angry with each other, whoever takes the initiative to forgive first, generally gets the first blessing. – Gary Pulliam

“Grief is an examination.  There is no judge so searching as conscience conducting its own trial.” – Victor Hugo – THE MAN WHO LAUGHS

Glance into the rearview mirror (past mistakes) but don’t gaze into it or you will lose sight of the future. – Anonymous

I have been all things unholy.  If God works through me, he can work through anyone. – Francis of Assisi

Anger and intolerance are the twin enemies of correct understanding. – Mohandas Gandhi    

Go on failing.  Go on.  Only next time try to fail better. – Samuel Beckett

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“Know that whoever turns a sinner back from the error of his way will save him from death and cover a multitude of sins.” – Deciple James – James 5:20 – The HOLY SCRIPTURES

God has a big eraser. – Billy Zeoli

You can’t change the past but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future. – Rick Sherman

Don’t wait until you’re too old or sick to have time to repent! – Gary Pulliam

It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. -- Unknown

For a small reward a man will hurry away on a long journey, while for eternal life, many will hardly take a single step. – Thomas a’ Kempis

No one ever forgets where they buried the hatchet. – Ken Hubbard

Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends. – Henry Ward Beecher

I’ve learned that love, not time, heals old wounds. – Andy Rooney        

When one burns one’s bridges, what a very nice fire it makes. – Dylan Thomas

“I know a way out of hell.  Find a child, a child whose mother and father have been killed, a little boy about this high, and raise him as your own. Only be sure he is a Muslim, and raise him as one.” – Ben Kingsley as Gandhi to a Hindu murderer. – GANDHI –John Briley (Screenplay)

A rose atones for its thorns by its beauty just as a bee atones for its sting by making honey. – Victor Hugo    

The weak can never forgive.  Forgiveness is the attribution of the strong. – Mohandas Gandhi                                                                         

Emotion is energy in motion.  Guilt is the energy for personal change - Unknown

We can forgive only when we perceive these wrongdoers with compassion—as vulnerable, imperfect human beings like ourselves, capable of weakness, cowardice and frailty. – Leo Buscaglia – LOVING EACH OTHER

What is forgiven is usually well-remembered. – Louis Dudek

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it. – Warren Buffett.

Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names. – John F, Kennedy

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. – William Blake

Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning. – Desmond Tutu

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“Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how many times is my brother to sin against me and am I to forgive him?  Up to seven times?”  Jesus said to him, “I say to you, not up to seven times,but up to 77 times.”” – Jesus Christ to apostle Peter – Matt. 18: 21, 22 – Matthew – The HOLY SCRIPTURES

To err is human, to forgive devine. – Aleaxander Pope

Forgiveness is the final form of love. – Reinhold Niebuhr

To apologize is to lay the foundation for a future offense. – Ambrose Bierce

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. – Mark Twain

Do we ever get credit for all the times we resisted temptation? – Gary Pulliam

I can forgive but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I cannot forgive. – Henry Ward Beecher

The world can forgive practically anything except people who mind their own business. – Margaret Mitchell

Selfishness must always be forgiven, you know, for there is no hope for a cure. – Jane Austen

It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive.  Forgive everybody. – Maya Angelou

“Mediocrities everywhere, I absolve you.  I absolve you.  I absolve you!  I absolve you!  I absolve you all!” – Solieri (F. Murray Abraham) to all the mental hospital patients at conclusion.  – AMADEUS. – Peter Shaffer (Screenplay) – 1984

Mistakes are a fact of life—it’s the response to error that counts. – My life story

Repentance is but a denying of our will and an opposition of our fantasies. – Michel de Montaighe

Forgive me for my nonsense, as I forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense. – Robert Frost

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness. – Honore de Balzac

What exactly is accident forgiveness in the vehicle insurance industry? – Inquiring minds

The “Sand Creek Apology,” a resolution adopted by delegates attending the General Conference of the United Methodist Church, the policy-making body of the 8.7 million-member denomination, met in Denver.  It stated, “We do extend to all Cheyennes and Arapahoes a hand of reconciliation, and ask forgiveness for the deaths of over 250 mostly women and children.”

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“If errors were what you watch, O Jah, then who, Oh Jehovah would stand?” – Psalm 130:3 – The HOLY SCRIPTURES                         

The one who loves least controls the relationship. – Unknown

If only I wasn’t an atheist; I could get away with anything.  You’d just ask for forgiveness, and then you’d be forgiven. – Keira Knightley

Sometimes we are judged by our good intentions, but we are really judged by our last bad act. – Michael Josephson