To excuse what can really produce good excuses is not
Christian charity; it is only fairness. To be a Christian
means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the
inexcusable in you. This is hard. It is perhaps not so hard to
forgive a single injury. But to forgive the incessant
provocations of daily life--to keep on forgiving the bossy
mother-in-law, the bullying husband, the nagging wife, the
selfish daughter, the deceitful son--how can we do it? Only, I
think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words
when we say in our prayers each night, "Forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." We
are offered forgiveness on no other terms. To refuse it means
to refuse God's mercy for ourselves. There is no hint of
exceptions and God means what He says.
Christian charity; it is only fairness. To be a Christian
means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the
inexcusable in you. This is hard. It is perhaps not so hard to
forgive a single injury. But to forgive the incessant
provocations of daily life--to keep on forgiving the bossy
mother-in-law, the bullying husband, the nagging wife, the
selfish daughter, the deceitful son--how can we do it? Only, I
think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words
when we say in our prayers each night, "Forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." We
are offered forgiveness on no other terms. To refuse it means
to refuse God's mercy for ourselves. There is no hint of
exceptions and God means what He says.
... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), "On Forgiveness," in The
Weight of Glory [1949]
Weight of Glory [1949]
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