Is forgiveness required in all cases?

[HankD]

Repentance is a prerequisite.

Luke 17
3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.​

HankD​

 

[Jim1999]

Biblically for a wrong against a brother, indeed, repentance is required.

Psychologically, forgiveness is the key to peace of mind, whether the other party admits guilt or not. It is your act that gives the peace of mind.

Cheers,

Jim

 

[CoJoJax]

Well, in Warrick Dunn's case, he still acknowledged a feeling of "closure" after everything, despite the reaction of his mother's murderer.

So you are absolutely right.

 

[Marcia]

I don't know if visiting the criminal in jail and "talking it over" with him/her is always the way to go.

I remember viewing a piece on SportsCenter on an athlete named Warrick Dunn - an NFL runningback. His mother was shot and killed by a man and he finally decided he was going to visit the man in prison and forgive him face-to-face. Despite all kinds of evidence obviously stating that this man was the killer, he simply denied everything to Dunn's face. The way Dunn described the experience on T.V., I almost got the impression that it was a big waste of time.

I'm OK forgiving somebody for something horrible they may have done to me or a family member and I may write a letter or something of that nature stating my forgiveness. But I've heard too many stories of the mindset of these people and the simple fact that they either A) don't care or B) deny everything, in which case, probably makes you feel worse than when you came in to see them. I don't know ..

I'd almost rather pray and express my forgiveness towards the individual to God .. if that makes any sense..

The person's reaction doesn't matter - We don't forgive in order to get a satisfaction from the person we are forgiving. Forgiving is done most of all as obedience to God. I think God enables us to do whatever He asks us to do.

 

[CoJoJax]

In the story, it just seemed like Dunn was more shocked than anything by the reaction of the person he came to forgive. You know, you pray and you build up so much courage to do such a thing, and you got a guy who won't even accept your forgiveness b/c he denies being involved in the first place.

I definitely agree with you though.

But I can also feel how Dunn must have felt in that case .. or any other case similar to it. You know, a feeling of disbelief. But it's good to know that you did the right thing .. what God wanted you to do.