That is what religious people believe from their perspective. It is not what I believe.

There is no way a person can know if they are forgiven by God except to just believe it. That is where their faith comes in. If they do not have that faith, they cannot believe it and they cannot feel forgiven. If they cannot feel forgiven by God, they probably cannot forgive themselves or others.

So belief and faith are necessary to feel forgiven, to forgive yourself, and to forgive others. This is where religion plays an important part in the lives of people. It provides structure to their beliefs, it gives guidance about right and wrong etc.

You apply your personal understanding according to your religion. I cannot do that, because I do not believe or practice your religion; therefore I apply my personal understanding according to my personal beliefs.

I don't think I am "half right." I think I am 100% right.
You probably think you are 100% right, but that is only because you believe differently than I do.


JB

That IT,,,,,I'm turning into a werwolf and ripping some lung's out!!!!!!!!!!

Well all I can tell you is that my faith started with God thru signs & wonders.... then when my soul expereinced His forgiveness. It's not of me JB. It's from God. I had to ask God to help me to agree with Him in areas I did not agree & he was faithful to give me what I was lacking to believe Him. It's a relationship.

You find that hard to believe? We never met...yet we both exist...right? ;)

I don't expect you to believe something you haven't experienced. Alot of us came up the same way. It's God who does the doing. That's why we KNOW what we believe. Until then the best we can do is guess. Until then we only see in part.

It is God who gives us that mustard seed of faith...it is also God who raises us up...in due time. It is God who heals the sick...it is God who provides. Not of ourselves so the power of God would be not of ourselves but from Him.

THAT'S HOW WE KNOW. You can know too dear girl.

BTW...to forgive takes total surrender... You are correct to say that it takes faith IN GOD to be able to let go of every bit of resistance & let Him take the reins...of your heart, mind, soul, will, finances, job, family, emotions, fears, anger & anything else that concerns you.

I have no reason to think that you are lying. I am sure this is the experience that you had if you say it is so.




That is in your belief, but in my belief, the power of God is within the core of my own being and very much a part of me and I am part of that which is God. Mine is a God that is part of me and I a part of It. That is how I get my faith, directly from source.




I know. My knowing is no less valid than what you claim. I know what I know, and it is very personal to me.

My relationship with God is very personal as I am connected to that.




I agree, I know total surrender and I know faith.

Now I see the other side. I guess I never pay it any attention unless I am paying attention. Huh? You have shown me peace and now, who would take that piece away from me. No! I love the peace!

JB,

You and I have had our misunderstandings, for sure. Knowing that, I believe that this topic applies directly to that set of scenarios.

I have found while reading through this thread that there seems to be some authenticity in your expressions. Specifically, it seems as though you do not want for another to hold negative feelings towards you as a result of questions that you have asked.

This all seems noble enough, however, when first reading the OP, something jumped out at me. I want to give you the opportunity to clarify something for me, if you would. It concerns this...



I have underlined that which signifies the issue I present.

It would hold true that if you are sincerely asking for another's forgiveness, it would really be a concern.

For if it matters not, why even ask?

A truly sincere apology does not expect or demand forgiveness in exchange for the apology.

I have no right to expect forgiveness.

The ability to forgive is a personal thing. I have no control over the other person, therefore I cannot be concerned whether they forgive me or not. It is out of my control.



Your statement above is not the reason for my apology. (I have no control over negative feelings a person holds towards me.)

I was truly sorry that I did not understand them and in attempting to find that understanding I questioned them in a manner that may have offended some of them. My apology was sincere. It was not because I was concerned or bothered by negative feelings they might hold against me.

I enjoy a reasonable discussion and I find it a challenge to break the barriers of misunderstanding in communications.

Sometimes things get heated when people do not agree. I am truly sorry if my words offended anyone simply because I disagree or state my beliefs, feelings or reasons for them. I don't intend to offend, but my questions may sometimes be brutal to egos and belief systems.

My agenda is to first, understand what they are actually saying, and second, understand their reasoning for it. I don't always succeed.

If the other person is steadfast in their belief, I certainly do not want to try to change that, I just want to understand why they believe the way they do.

Once I understand that, I have no more reason to discuss the subject with them.

Jeannie

Its All About Forgiveness

Its all about forgiveness
Because if was up to me
We'd really be in a mess.
I'd go postal on humanity.