Shea Here. Over on Amy's blog, they're talking about this blog

In the course of it, Rod Dreher asks an extremely common question:

Jesus commands us to forgive, but are we supposed to do that in the absence of repentance?

and the core of the matter is (as is typical) ably summed up by Tom from Disputations.

Yes.

And he's right. The basic, radical fact of the Christian faith, despite all attempts by our culture to avoid it, is this: "Love your enemies". An enemy is not somebody who means well. An enemy is somebody who, impenitently and with malice aforethought, means ill and chooses to do you harm for the sake of his own selfish purposes. Enemies are not people who goofed, or suffer from poor communication skills. They are people who mean to sin against us and who have not said (and for all we know may never say), "I'm sorry."

Our faith binds us to extend forgiveness to them. And the fact they are impenitent does not give us license to hold on to bitterness toward them or refuse to extend forgiveness. The command is absolute: forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those (everybody, not just the people who have satisfied us emotionally by a serious act of contrition) who trespass against us.

The reasons for this are twofold. First, we aren't God. But second, because we aren't God, our insistence on holding on to unforgiveness (which we call "righteous anger") hurts nobody but ourselves and those around us and, as a general rule, simply gives power to the person who hurts us.

# posted by Squach : 4:23 PM   |