28And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: 33And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
- Mark 12:28-34
One of my longstanding disagreements with some other Christians on here (carp) is the meaning of Matthew 6:14-15
14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Namely whether the other person has to be sorry and apologize before you forgive them, and before that you're free to hold a grudge as long as you want. But I just can't hold with that interpretation in the light of passages like Mark 12:28-34, when Christ spells out that we're supposed to universally love everyone. I just don't see that as compatible with only forgiving those who are sorry, I think it means forgiving people regardless of whether they've done anything to "earn" that forgiveness out of the knowledge that all people are deserving of forgiveness because all people are afflicted in different ways by sin.
When Jesus was crucified he said “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” I think that's the example we're called to live by as Christians, and anything short of that is just making excuses.
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