Tagged: “Anger”

I have a follow-up question to my inquiry about forgiving God.  If it is impossible for God to act unjustly, then God is not all perfect, right?  If He cannot perform a given action, even if it is unjust, then God cannot do all things.

You need to realize that God, as you understand Him as you practice your Presbyterian faith, has a certain nature.  That nature includes complete holiness and perfection.  The fact that God does not go against this nature does not make Him imperfect.  It makes Him consistent with His nature, with who God actually is.

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I am a Presbyterian Christian.  If I am offended with the way my life is going, is it all right to forgive God?

No, actually, it is not all right to forgive God.  Your belief system says that God is holy and perfect in every way.  Therefore, God cannot behave unjustly.  Thus, God cannot be unfair to you and so there is nothing to forgive.  If you went down that path of forgiving God, you would have faulty theology, with the assumption that God can act unjustly, which is not possible.

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My boyfriend does not want me to forgive him.  He says I am misinterpreting his motives.  If I want to forgive him, is it ok to just come right out with it and proclaim, “I forgive you!”

You can forgive from the heart without proclaiming it directly to him if this will offend him.  He likely will see your forgiveness with your renewed smiles and positive responses to him.  You can proclaim your forgiveness within yourself without proclaiming it to him.

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Thank you for your answer to my question about time.  Would you please provide here the reference to the Hansen research?

Yes, here is the reference to the Hansen research:

Hansen, M.J., Enright. R.D., Baskin, T.W., & Klatt, J. (2009).  A palliative care intervention in forgiveness therapy for elderly terminally-ill cancer patients. Journal of Palliative Care, 25, 51-60.

Here is a copy of that work:

https://internationalforgiveness.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Cancer-Patients.pdf

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Don’t you think that time is more important than forgiveness?  With patience, won’t angers toward offending people just melt away?

If the offense was deep and the resultant hurts are significant, time alone will not necessarily “melt away” the angers.  For example, Mary Hansen did a research study with elderly women in hospice.  Some of them were carrying resentments In their hearts for decades before they forgave.  Time, in other words, does not necessarily “heal all wounds” as the saying goes.

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